New Delhi: In the US to attend the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, FM Arun Jaitley told foreign audiences that “India was reeking with the odour of corruption scandals,” and that till late 2013, country was teetering on the edge of a macro-economic crisis, which the Narendra Modi govt has ameliorated to a large extent.
Here are the 5 ailments FM said India was suffering from:
1. Inflation was at double-digits
2. Current account deficit (CAD) was at four per cent of the GDP
3. Economic growth was decelerating sharply
4. Suffering from weak governance
5. Corruption
6. Costs of doing business too high
FM Jaitley said that his government took these issues head-on and was successful in addressing the most pressing economic problems.
“In less than a year after coming to power and because of the steps being taken by the new government, inflation is down to five per cent, current account to less than one per cent of the GDP. Growth has started to accelerate to over 7.5 per cent and foreign inflows are at over USD 50 billion,” he said.
“India is one of the bright spots in the economy because of the reforms we are undertaking and its rising growth prospects,” Jaitley said.
“I think it is fair to say that fundamentally we have restored faith in government and its ability to push the Indian economy toward the path of sustained double-digit growth which is our medium-term goal,” he said.
