India can defy global slowdown: Jaitley at Davos

Davos, January 22 

India can defy global economic slowdown by continuing its reforms and "responsible" economic planning, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here today.

Giving his assessment on how India can tackle an uncertain global economy with headwinds from China and the US, Jaitley expressed confidence that the country will prove its resilience.

Stating that there is a mood of concern among the global leaders and other participants at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting here, Jaitley said India must carry on the structural reforms to once again defy the global slowdown.

"And if India continues its reforms and responsible economic planning, we can stand out.

"Indian economy in 2001, 2008 and 2015 has shown resilience to defy global slowdown and crisis. Today, we are better equipped to face that situation and show the resilience," Jaitley said.

It is absolutely clear in meetings of the global economic leaders in here that "the mood is one of concern because global economy is facing a lot of uncertainty", he said.

"A lot of challenges have surfaced simultaneously. There is worry over China, though Chinese themselves have said it is no longer possible for China to have a double-digit growth and that they consider 7% growth as their new normal. But there is still a lot of global worry about China," he noted.

The Finance Minister said the oil, metals and commodity producing nations are all facing serious challenges and there is a concern that the fourth quarter in the US may not be producing best results. These issues have led to global uncertainty and that is also leading to re-adjustment of investments, he said.

Expressing confidence that India would show its resilience, Jaitley said: "The oil and commodity price regime benefits us. We are not a part of China's production or distribution chain and so the Chinese slowdown does not impact us (directly)".

CII Secretary General Chandrajeet Banerjee said there was a lot of hope about India at WEF meeting in Davos last year and the global leaders this year are doing some sort of a cross-check on the same. — PTI 

Indian economy in 2001, 2008 and 2015 has shown resilience to defy global slowdown and crisis. Today, we are better equipped to face that situation and show the resilience — Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister

On the global side, there are a lot of worries with slowdown in China and plunge in stock markets and commodity prices and if there is a bright spot, it is surely India —  Chandrajeet Banerjee, CII secy general