‘Speculation about cryptocurrencies not healthy at all’
NEW DELHI: As the central government prepares to draft a legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said speculations regarding the same are not “healthy at all”.
Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit, the Finance Minister said there is certainly a well consulted bill which is coming in Parliament after the Cabinet nod.
“There is a lot of speculation...that’s not healthy at all,” she said in a reply to a question if she thinks that a lot of unregulated speculation is taking place on crypto.
The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, has been included in the Lok Sabha Bulletin-Part II for the introduction in the ongoing Winter Session.
The bill seeks to create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Bulletin said.
It also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.
Earlier this week, Sitharaman in the Rajya Sabha while replying to a series of questions had said the new bill takes into account the rapidly changing dimensions in virtual currency space, and incorporates features of the earlier bill that could not be taken up.
Asked if the government proposes to ban misleading advertisements in media, she had said the guidelines of Advertising Standards Council of India are being studied and their regulations are also being looked into “so that we can take, if necessary, some kind of a position or a decision to see how we are going to handle it”.
She had said the government, RBI and Sebi have been cautioning people about the cryptocurrencies that could be a “high risk” area and “more can be done” to create awareness.
On the economic growth, Sitharaman at the HT Leadership Summit said, the GDP number this year would be very encouraging and India would emerge as the fastest growing large economy in the world.
With regard to food inflation, she said, there are supply constraints because of floods in some parts of the country leading to price rise of perishable products.
“If inflation has breached 6 then it is a matter of concern,” she said.
The finance minister blamed supply side issues and listed steps taken by the Modi government. She, however, expressed hope that prices of those commodities in short supply would cool down by January.
On edible oil, she said, enough and more imports have been allowed and that should take care of the spike in prices.
With a fresh harvest of mustard seeds, she said prices of that would also moderate soon.
Asked about meeting the disinvestment target of ₹ 1.75 lakh crore during the current
An element of uncertainty continues over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. But Indians are resilient, they have shown they can adapt to any situation. We have to give it to them NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, Union finance minister
financial year, she said, “we are progressing with each one of them (BPCL strategic sale, LIC IPO). The detailing requires a lot of time.”
Air India handing over to Tata Group would be done by December 31, she added.
She further talked about the indicators this year showing “very encouraging” gross domestic product (GDP).
“I am hopeful that this year’s GDP would be very encouraging and we will still be the fastest-growing economy in the world,” Sitharaman said while speaking to Hindustan Times’ editor-in-chief R Sukumar on the last day of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
“An element of uncertainty continues over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. But Indians are resilient, they have shown they can adapt to any situation. We have to give it to them,” Sitharaman said.
“The growth story, I think, thanks to the tenacity and perseverance shown by Indian people, is actually resulting in this growth number, consistency and also indicating what’s going to happen in the next year,” she added.
When asked if, at the macro level, India has managed to put the effects of the pandemic behind and is the country now on a steadier path of growth, she said, “To a large extent, yes.”
The September quarter GDP at ₹35.73 trillion in 2011-12 prices was marginally higher than ₹35.61 trillion in the quarter ending September 2019. It means the latest growth figure is not just because of a favourable base effect, as the economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Indian economy grew 8.4% in the September quarter, comfortably exceeding estimates.
Commenting on India’s promises at the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow, Sitharaman said that while the move towards less carbon-intensive growth will not in anyway affect India’s growth prospects in the short-term, in the long-term, the country will have to invest more to fuel growth – an argument that backs India’s demand for climate finance funding from developed countries.