Economy to stay on course in FY24: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The Indian economy will likely grow by 7% in 2022-23 and is projected to be the fastest-growing economy in 2023-24 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Washington.

“In her intervention, the FM highlighted that conducive domestic policy environment along with the government’s focus on structural reforms has kept domestic economic activity in India robust,” the finance ministry tweeted, quoting Sitharaman. She was speaking at the plenary meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee at the IMF Headquarters in Washington.

The finance ministry’s Economic Survey on January 31 had projected the country’s GDP growth to be 6-6.8% in FY24, against an advance estimate of 7% in FY23.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday lowered its growth forecasts for India for the current fiscal and the next by 20 bps and 50 bps, to 5.9% and 6.3%, respectively. This was broadly in line with the cuts in its global growth forecasts for 2023 and 2024 by 10 bps each to 2.8% and 3%, but indicated that India may not be weathering the global turmoil as exceptionally as it was expected to. Of course, India will still be the fastest-growing major economy during the forecast period.

Sitharaman underlined the learning from the pandemic that digitalisation, especially Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), is a positive-catalyst for the global economy and how India’s DPI created a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Referring to the global sovereign debt roundtable, the finance minister said it has demonstrated a constructive way forward with multi-stakeholder cooperation for other vulnerable countries, and India is pleased to be part of the team that provided solutions for Sri Lanka and Surinam.

Through the G20 India presidency, Sitharaman reiterated a commitment to exploring solutions to pressing global challenges that disproportionately harm the poorest and most vulnerable.

Speaking at the ‘Digital Public Infrastructure: Stacking Up the Benefits’ event organised by the IMF, Sitharaman said: “Today, more than 68% of total payments are made through unified payments interface (UPI) in India. In March 2023 alone, India has witnessed 8.7 billion UPI tractions and overall growth of 82% in the financial year 2022-23 over the previous year.”

She later tweeted: “Better targeting has been achieved through DPI, including gender-sensitive focus and targeting of vulnerable sections. By leveraging Jan Dhan accounts and Aadhaar, we have provided more than 90 million gas connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana as on January 30.”

Speaking at another event, the minister said issues related to crypto assets require immediate attention and the response of the G20 has to ensure that they do not lose any potential benefits while protecting economies from harm. Sitharaman was part of a brainstorming session on “Macrofinancial Implications of Crypto Assets” with G20 finance ministers and central bank governors at the IMF’s headquarters on Friday. India currently holds the annual presidency of G20 countries.