India fastest growing economy, some MPs feel jealous of this: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

NEW DELHI:  Despite the Covid pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war, India is the fastest growing economy in the world, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Monday. The Indian rupee has gained against every other currency and the US dollar is going stronger because of the policies adopted by the US Federal Reserve, even then Indian rupee is robust against the US dollar, she said.

“Currency devaluation is itself a word which can be used when it is a fixed rate exchange mechanism. Currently, it is not a fixed rate mechanism,” she further said while replying to a supplementary question asked by Congress member Anumula Revanth Reddy in Lok Sabha.

Reddy had asked about the actions the Centre has taken to contain the slide in the rupee, which has hit 83 against the US dollar first time ever. Meanwhile, he also quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2013 statement, when he was Gujarat's chief, about the low rupee.

Taking a jibe at then Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in 2013, he had tweeted, “Today Rupee is in ICU, I do not know why Tamil people sent him to Delhi.” Hitting out at Congress, Sitharaman said some members of the parliament feel envious of foreign enemy countries if India performs well.