Washington DC: Visiting Washington DC to attend the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the next annual budget of India will be carefully structured to sustain the nation’s growth momentum. She further added that it will address inflation concerns while responding to a chat with eminent economist Eshwar Prasad.
Ministry of Finance tweeted about the meeting.
“Specifics (of the next budget) may be difficult at this stage because it’s a bit too early. But broadly, the growth priorities will be kept absolutely on the top”, said Sitharaman at the prestigious Brookings Institute. “Even as I speak about the concerns that inflation brings before me, so, inflation concerns will have to be addressed. But then how would you manage growth would be the natural question”, added the minister.
India’s next annual budget is scheduled to be presented by Sitharaman before the Parliament next February. Sitharaman has expressed confidence on India’s relative and absolute growth performance in the rest of the decade and forecast nation’s growth rate to be around 7 percent this financial year.
India’s economic policies take effect with a lag and addressing the ravages of the pandemic and preparing the economy for medium term went hand in hand. The recovery from the pandemic is still ongoing, adding that domestic and international tourism is lagging, but India is closing the gap fast, she said.