India’s economy has been growing at 7% or more since the Covid-19 pandemic and is expected to maintain the momentum despite global uncertainties, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while addressing the Indian diaspora in Chicago.
Because multilateral institutions are very slow…, she said, we are also talking with several countries for bilateral investment treaty and also bilateral trade agreements. Therefore, I will be working on that path. Talking about fiscal management, she said, “We have set ourselves a certain target, which is to bring the borrowing down to the 50% level of GDP by 2030. There are advanced economies whose debt is well over 200% of their GDP even now. The last mile that had to be reached by 2025-26, we have reached,” she added. She said 2047 is the target year set for achieving Viksit Bharat. “It’s hardly 20 years from now.
The finance minister said irrespective of global uncertainties, India is marching on the reform path with its focus on bilateral trade and investment cooperation with several economies and accelerating the domestic engine of growth through capital investments for their multiplier effects. “So, reforms continue. We have given ourselves a fiscal discipline path on the fiscal deficit as well. We have fulfilled the trajectory. So, the speed and scale with which the reforms are happening require a lot more support. Lots more support from people who are talented and have exposure. Lots more support from people who can give ideas for us to carry it forward. And, above all, support in terms of capital, which is so required for a country to meet all its aspirations,” she added.
The finance minister’s statement came close on the heels of the Reserve Bank of India’s latest growth projection on August 5. India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2026-27 is projected at 6.7%, according to the RBI.
