Inflationary pressures are easing, says FM
GUWAHATI: Allaying concerns about the state of Indian economy, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharamam on Thursday said that inflationary pressures were easing and that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to the country were steady.
“Though there are monthly ups and downs of some indicators but that shouldn’t worry because very clearly FDI flows are keeping steady and coming in good numbers, our foreign exchange reserve is doing very well,” Sitharaman said while addressing a press briefing. Sitharaman was on a one-day visit to Guwahati to attend an interaction with academics, economists, industry representatives and policy experts as part of the ‘Jan Jan Ka
Budget’ programme. She also held a meeting with heads of public sector banks.
“In between because of seasonal vegetables and also because of climate change-related issues when crops like onions got affected and their price shot up, there was pressure on inflation. But that is coming down. We have lifted the ban on export of onions. So, inflationary pressures are coming down,” she added.
Sitharaman said that the Reserve Bank of India was not just monitoring inflation, but also coming up with steps that would stimulate growth, such additional facilities for MSMEs and for real estate.
“Due to a lot of concerted effort both by the government and RBI, I can very clearly see the mood is gradually changing and there is every positive sign. I had gone two days ago to participate in the G20 summit in Saudi Arabia. Nowhere was there concern that something is happening in India. There is interest in India and investors are upbeat,” she said.
When asked about the coronavirus outbreak affecting businesses in India, Sitharaman said that she held a meeting with industry representatives, who did not voice any “anxiety” over the issue. “I had a meeting with nearly 20-23 types of industries. They didn’t express any anxiety about raw material supply or exports being disturbed. However, some of them felt that if the situation doesn’t improve after two months, they may start having problems of raw materials’ availability,” she said.
The finance minister further issued directives to banks to ensure that all accounts of tea garden workers in Assam should be made direct benefit transfer (DBT)-compatible soon. “I want to be sure that banks take a flexible approach in being able to bring in all tea garden workers who have an account. We are not insisting on Aadhaar, but any other valid identity should be allowed [for KYC].