Confident of managing inflation while keeping growth robust, says FM Sitharaman

Direct taxes reforms were a “steady job in the pipeline,” Nirmala Sitharaman said

The BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is confident of managing inflation while keeping growth robust, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on February 2 in a post-Budget interview with Network 18.

"We are confident that we'll be able to manage inflation," FM Sitharaman said.

When Rahul Joshi, Editor-in-Chief, Network 18, asked if a 7 percent GDP forecast is realistic, the Finance Minister, who presented the interim Budget 2024 on February 1, said the Chief Economic Advisor too has elaborated why 7 percent is not hard to achieve. She added that the robustness of the economy has not gone down and we have made every effort to include everyone in this growth process.

Globally too, ratings organisations that study economies across the world, have enhanced their assessments and upgraded our growth estimates, FM Sitharaman further said.

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She added, "Upgrading our growth estimates is not singularly our business. People are seeing that fundamentally a lot of activities are happening. The robustness of the economy has not slackened anywhere; it has maintained the buoyancy with which things are happening. And when I say buoyancy, I am not just talking of revenue collection. So, there is reason to believe, yes, it is possible and not just inflation, the deflator itself here is constantly playing a role, meaning, while we are looking at controlling inflation, the other factors are falling into place."

"Therefore, we are confident that on the one hand, we will be able to manage inflation and on the other hand, will keep the robustness in growth so that it is sustained growth. We have made every effort to look at both growth driving elements and the inclusivity driving elements so that nobody is left out from this growth process – both to contribute and to gain from," the Finance Minister said.

Notably, just ahead of the 2024 Budget, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had raised its 2024-25 GDP growth forecast for India by 20 basis points to 6.5 percent, which, however, still trails the expectations of Indian authorities. Similarly, the Fund has also raised its growth forecast for 2025-26 by 20 basis points to 6.5 percent.

"Growth in India is projected to remain strong at 6.5 percent in both 2024 and 2025, with an upgrade from October of 0.2 percentage point for both years, reflecting resilience in domestic demand," the IMF said on January 30 in an update to its World Economic Outlook report.