India remains concerned about global economic outlook, geopolitical environment: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that despite this year’s projected growth rate of over 6% for the Indian economy, the country remains concerned about the global economic outlook and geopolitical environment. She was speaking at the 107^th Development Committee Meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Sitharaman, who is on a seven-day visit to the US, said that the World Bank should continue to work for its vision of 'A World Free of Poverty.'

"FM Smt. @nsitharaman posited that  @WorldBank should continue to work for its vision of ‘A World Free of Poverty’ and seeks to achieve its mission of ‘ending extreme poverty’ and ‘promoting shared prosperity’ in a manner that is #inclusive, #resilient and #sustainable," Finance Ministry said in a tweet.

"During her intervention, Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman suggested that the global public goods #GPG should also be brought into the focus as the third goal," the tweet added.

During her speech, she spoke about the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable and emphasised India’s commitment as part of the G20 president to all global efforts to address growing debt vulnerabilities. She also called for timely debt restructuring as the solution to the global debt crisis is closely intertwined with addressing the global poverty challenge, noting that it adversely affects the most indebted countries as they also house the poorest people.

According to the finance ministry, Sitharaman shared that India’s roadmap for imparting momentum to economy is based on growth at the macro level and all-inclusive welfare for vulnerable groups with a focus on innovative financing methods.

Earlier this week, Sitharaman also called for further cooperation in addressing global economic challenges, including climate change. She also highlighted the role of G-20, QUAD and IPEF in fostering these ties. The finance minister also emphasised the importance of coordinated global action to address debt vulnerability in low and middle-income countries, besides the need for financial support to help developing economies achieve climate goals. 

The finance minister said that in the space of manufacturing, India has the right kind of skills, including manpower and language proficiency, along with a huge domestic market, which provides a significant scaling advantage to the private sector.

She also said that foreign investments have kept coming to India. She urged prospective investors to come and look at what's happening in India rather than listening to "perceptions" being built by people who've not visited the ground but writing reports.