States helping India weather global shocks: FM Sitharaman

Asheville, Sep 1 (IANS) Cooperation between the Centre and state governments, lower compliance burdens and sustained engagement with businesses helped India maintain strong economic growth despite global challenges, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

In an exclusive interview with IANS on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting here, FM Sitharaman credited states with joining the Centre’s efforts to improve the ease of doing business.

“I think together with the states, I will also credit the states, many of them who have come forward to make doing business a bit easier,” she said.

The Finance Minister said the government had sought to ease the burden on citizens and businesses by reforming laws, simplifying regulations and removing provisions that were no longer relevant.

“We, as you know, have reduced a lot of compliance burden on the citizens, whether it is by reforming the Acts, by simplifying the regulations, and also by removing archaic laws,” she said.

“So over a thousand laws have been removed, 40,000 regulations have been simplified,” FM Sitharaman added.

The government’s approach also included regular consultations with companies and trade bodies, she said.

“Constantly, we are engaging with the industry, with businesses, with trade,” the Finance Minister said.

FM Sitharaman said India was signing bilateral trade agreements and moving forward with investor protection agreements as part of its efforts to strengthen economic activity and investor confidence.

“Also, the way in which bilateral trade agreements are being signed, we are now pushing ahead with investor protection agreements as well,” she said.

“So you are able to see several such steps,” she added.

The Finance Minister also pointed to foreign currency deposits and investments by overseas Indians as signs of confidence in the country’s banking system and economic fundamentals.

“The recent FCNR bank deposits, which through the Reserve Bank the Indian banks are able to obtain, are all confidence-giving measures,” she said.

“Very clearly, foreign deposits are coming, and Indian citizens abroad are investing,” FM Sitharaman added.

She said the inflows reflected confidence both in Indian banks and the wider economy.

“The trust that people have in the Indian banking system and in the Indian macroeconomic indicators is clearly telling us the positive story, and we would like to build on it,” she said.

India recorded economic growth of 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of the 2026-27 financial year. FM Sitharaman said the performance was particularly significant because it came despite continuing external pressures.

“I am extremely pleased with the numbers,” she said. “It is more to say the hard work of the Indian citizens, even against extreme challenges, external challenges. And the challenges don’t seem to die down at all.”

“Despite these global challenges, if the Indian economy is still growing at 7.8% in the first quarter of this financial year, 2026-2027, it is heartening that the people’s hard work is bearing fruit,” she added.

Manufacturing grew by 9.2 per cent, while the financial and professional services sector expanded by 12.1 per cent, according to figures cited by FM Sitharaman. India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at about $700 billion.

The Finance Minister said the first-quarter performance would strengthen growth during the year. She also expressed confidence that India could sustain similar growth numbers in the coming quarters.

FM Sitharaman is attending the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting in Asheville, where she has held bilateral discussions with the United States, Poland, Qatar, South Korea and Russia.

–IANS

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