Hopeful this year's GDP would be very encouraging: Nirmala Sitharaman at HTLS
Nirmala Sitharaman's comments at HTLS 2021 came days after data showed that India’s GDP grew at 8.4% in the three months ended September.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday all indicators show this year can be better than expected and gross domestic product (GDP) “will be very encouraging”.
“I am hopeful that this year's GDP would be very encouraging and we will still be the fastest-growing economy in the world,” Sitharaman said while speaking to Hindustan Times’ editor-in-chief R Sukumar on the last day of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
“I am hopeful that this year's GDP would be very encouraging and we will still be the fastest-growing economy in the world,” Sitharaman said while speaking to Hindustan Times’ editor-in-chief R Sukumar on the last day of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
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The finance minister’s comments at HTLS 2021 came days after data showed that India’s GDP grew at 8.4% in the three months ended September, exceeding expectations, on the back of increased government spending, exports and agriculture.
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"An element of uncertainty continues over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. But Indians are resilient, they have shown they can adapt to any situation. We have to give it to them,” Sitharaman said.
“The growth story, I think, thanks to the tenacity and perseverance shown by Indian people, is actually resulting in this growth number, consistency and also indicating what's going to happen in the next year,” she added.
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When asked if, at the macro level, India has managed to put the effects of the pandemic behind and is the country now on a steadier path of growth, she said, “To a large extent, yes.”
The September quarter GDP at ₹35.73 trillion in 2011-12 prices was marginally higher than ₹35.61 trillion in the quarter ending September 2019. It means the latest growth figure is not just because of a favourable base effect, as the economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
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This is not the first time in the post-pandemic period that quarterly GDP numbers have been higher than the pre-pandemic value. India’s GDP growth was positive in the quarters ending December 2020 (0.5 per cent) and March 2021 (1.6 per cent) as well, which means the GDP numbers were not lower than the pre-pandemic values.
