Sitharaman tells WTO to listen to all countries and be fair to members
India is well-positioned in the global economy, allowing it to grow briskly, possibly faster, in the coming years, as New Delhi’s structural reforms has kept the country a globally attractive investment destination, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on 10 April 2023.
India has integrated its economy with global trade and financial flows while ensuring a higher standard of living and improved quality of life for Indian households, she said at a fireside chat at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“The structural reforms approach has ensured that India remains a globally attractive destination for investment, supported by the rising domestic consumption of the middle class, robust infrastructure push by the government, sustainable fiscal health and a vibrant class of domestic institutional investors,” she said.
India has prioritised macroeconomic stability while ensuring inclusive growth by expanding the size and scope of budgeted expenditure, simultaneously, it undertook wide-ranging structural reforms such as introducing the Goods and Services Tax, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and corporate tax rationalisation.
Despite foreign portfolio outflows as investors rushed to seek safer assets, the Indian Financial Sector has not displayed signs of volatility or stress due to an improved investment environment, said the Minister, underlining declining Non Performing Asset (NPA) levels across the banking sector and stronger balance sheets in financial and non-financial private entities.
The Indian Minister has also called on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to be more progressive and listening to other countries.
The WTO needs to give more space to the countries which have something different to say and not just hear. “I would like the WTO to be a lot more progressive, a lot more listening to all countries, to be fair to all members,” she said during the fireside chat at the PIIE, a Washington-based American think-tank.
Sitharaman also held a Q&A discussion and remarks on ‘Resilience of the Indian Economy amidst tightening of financial conditions’ with PIIE president Adam S. Posen.
Having shaken off the anxieties of the pandemic and other economic shocks, India is poised to reap the rewards of eight years of structural reforms and the restoration of a healthy financial sector, said PIIE. fiinews.com
