India continues to be among world’s fastest-growing major economies: FM Sitharaman

New Delhi, June 11 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday that India continues to be among the world’s fastest-growing major economies, with GDP growth projected to remain robust at around 7 per cent over the medium term.

Highlighting India’s remarkable economic progress in recent years through the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and India’s commitment to the mantra of ‘Reform, Perform, and Transform’, Finance Minister said that our growth is primarily domestic-demand led, with a largely market-determined exchange rate.

Participating in the virtual meeting on ‘Global Convergence for Growth Summit’ from New Delhi, she said in today’s interconnected world, prosperity and challenges are shared, but the consequences of conflicts and uncertainty fall disproportionately on developing countries and the Global South.

“The situation demands coordinated global action. We must strengthen multilateral cooperation to build resilient economies, accelerate sustainable development, and ensure inclusive growth that benefits all,” she said.

The Summit was held to bring together leaders of advanced and emerging economies to discuss ways of supporting a balanced growth anchored in an efficient global framework. French President Emmanuel Macron presided over the Summit that witnessed participation of the top leadership from all the G7 nations, India, Brazil, China, Kenya, South Korea and IMF.

On the issue of global imbalances, the Finance Minister said, “Not all imbalances are alike, some reflect differences in demographics, development stages, resource endowments, or economic structures. Our focus should, therefore, remain on excessive and persistent imbalances while recognising that the scale of domestic needs varies significantly across countries.”

Speaking for the Global South, she further said that “The burden of adjustment should not fall disproportionately on countries that are not the drivers of these imbalances. India, like many developing economies, remains largely peripheral to both the origination and propagation of global imbalances; yet, we continue to face their spillover effects.”

She emphasised the need to strengthen confidence in multilateral institutions and ensure that they remain responsive to the needs of developing countries.

She called for better, bigger, more effective and more representative Multilateral Development Banks that can deliver significantly greater financing to developing countries and emerging economies, noting that enhancing their financing capacity, operational agility and responsiveness will be critical. Finance Minister stated that the recent developments have highlighted the importance of resilient, diversified and geographically distributed supply chains, particularly for critical minerals, and focus on circularity, recycling and urban mining can address some of the sourcing challenges being collectively faced by the world.

–IANS

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