Economic reforms to continue, says Jaitley
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday reaffirmed his government’s resolve to continue with economic reforms and brushed aside any Opposition plan to block this process, as the ruling NDA coalition gears up to face a hectic winter session of Parliament where a number of key bills will be put up for approval from both Houses.
“We must realise that the India of 2015 is much different from the India of 1991 when the reforms process started. Today the number of people supporting growth is more and those who obstruct are being constantly taunted and advised not to obstruct.
Because if we can grow at 7-8% comfortably despite challenges, then the growth will be much faster if these challenges are not there,” Jaitley said at a function organised by the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) here.
The economy can grow at a rate that is 1-2% faster than the current rate if negatives like global slowdown, the impact from a weak monsoon and low private sector investment are taken out of the current economic environment, Jaitley said.
The parliament is scheduled to resume from November 26 with the Congress planning to strongly oppose the government’s move on foreign direct investment in defence and media, similar to the blockages in the previous sessions when the Opposition successfully stalled passage of the Land Bill. The Congress has also reportedly turned down Jaitley’s offers for talks to resolve the GST bill stalemate.
Jaitley, along with RK Agarwal, whole-time member of Sebi, was at the function to commemorate NSDL crossing `100 lakh crore ($0.5 trillion) in asset value under its custody. NSDL is the largest securities depository in India and holds more than 89% of securities, apart from being the custodian for the re-launched National Pension System.