Washington: Investors can find no better place in the world than India that has a democracy loving and capitalist respecting environment, according to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Niramala Sitharaman also assured international investors at an interaction session at the IMF’s headquarters here that the Indian government was continuously working to bring reforms.
“It (India) is one of the fastest growing (economies) even today. It has the best skilled manpower and a government that is continuously doing what is required in the name of reforms, above all democracy and rule of law,” Sitharaman said Wednesday.
Responding to a question on why investors should allocate funds for India, she said that even if the court system is a bit delayed, India is a transparent and open society. The rule of law works and there are a lot of reforms happening, even those to cut down delays, informed the finance minister.
“So you will not have anything better… democracy loving, capitalist respecting environment… in India,” Sitharaman said at the event hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in association with the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum.
Responding to questions from major insurance companies, who urged her to remove the cap on investment in this sector, Sitharaman said the government needs to understand what the expectations of the sector are other than removing of the cap. Sitharaman said she would be quite open to the proposal and they could send her the details.
Asserting that the Indian government is engaging with everyone on a weekly basis and there is no trust deficit with the corporate sector and investors, Sitharaman also pointed out that there is a greater understanding of the issues faced by investors.
The government is committed to maintaining fiscal deficit in India, asserted Sitharaman.
To a question on the slowdown in the Indian economy, the finance minister said the government is taking steps to address problems in the ‘stressed’ sectors.
“Overall in order to boost consumption, the government has very clearly said public expenditure for infrastructure will be clearly front- loaded,” Sitharaman said.
“ “Similarly, for increasing money in the hands of the people so that consumption can improve, I’ve requested all the building sector banks together with their partners, non-banking, financial companies to reach out to villages, reach out to districts and extend every kind of credit that they would want,” informed the finance minister.
Earlier in the day in New York, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) in partnership with FICCI, Bank of America and Citibank hosted an interaction with institutional investors.
Senior members of the New York financial services industry were present for this round table that included insurance companies, debt restructuring companies, private equity, equity investors and banks.
PTI