Expressing the government's commitment to continue with reforms, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has assured India Inc that the government is committed in doing everything that it requires to be done for the economic growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stressing that there is a need to promote growth as it helps bring down poverty, she however said it would not be at the cost of inflation. RBI has been mandated to keep inflation at 4 per cent, with tolerance level of 2 per cent on either side.
The minister said ‘growth will be given its importance. Growth will be pushed both by the Reserve Bank and by us. We also want to assure the industry that inflation in the last 7 years has not crossed 6 per cent except seasonal variation. Inflation has been well within that band which is before us.’ Pointing out that she is not looking at growth versus inflation, Sitharaman said ‘we should attend to inflation, keep it contained, take all the necessary steps, but never forget that growth is what is going to make the difference to the economy's revival and growth is what is eventually going to remove poverty and bring in a certain level playing field for all the Indian citizens.’ She further said the government is looking at being an active participant in the economic recovery.
Observing that some high frequency indicators are pointing towards economic revival after unlock measures announced by many states with decline in COVID-19 cases, she said foreign direct investment (FDI) has been flowing into India non-stop despite the pandemic because there was confidence about the macroeconomic fundamentals.