india

Updated: Aug 23, 2019 18:36 IST

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said India’s GDP continues to grow at a faster pace than globally advanced economies and any other major economy, which were showing growth concerns.

The Finance Minister was addressing the media on the state of the current economy. “Economic reform has been top priority for the Union government since 2014 and it is a continuous process,” she said. Sitharaman was accompanied by Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur, Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar and other top finance ministry officials.

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Global GDP growth may be revised downwards from the current estimate of 3.2%, she said adding that globally the demand was going to be weak. However, the Indian economy was growing faster than the global average and all other major economies, Sitharaman added.

Referring to the ongoing US-China trade war, the finance minister said a very volatile situation had emerged in global trade as a result of the US-China war on trade tariffs. Chinese currency fluctuations have also hit global trade, she said.

Quoting Prime Minister Modi’s Independence Day speech talking of respect for wealth creators, the finance minister said, “We respect wealth creators. That is the spirit with which the Union Budget was presented and why we invited different sectors of the economy to speak with us to understand their needs. These were in-depth consultations.”

“We haven’t lost reforms momentum,” she said.

Ahead of her address, the market benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded from early lows to close 228 points higher on expectations of FPI tax roll back.