Highlighting ‘massive’ economic reforms undertaken by India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the country’s economic slowdown has bottomed out and now it should start moving upwards after recovering from the temporary blip. He acknowledged that there was a ‘temporary blip’ as a result of structural changes initiated by the government. He added that India grew between 7-8% over the last three years. Therefore, they need over the next, at least, a decade, if not more, significantly higher growth rates in order to go ahead with expansion plan of the Indian economy.
However, Jaitley said that the country's basic economic parameters are quite stable. In a move to bring in confidence among investors, he said that the combination of the IT scheme and now the large-scale recapitalisation they have announced should be put into motion expeditiously. He explained that the combination of these two steps are likely to improve the capacity of the banks, and even lend their surplus, particularly to the small and medium-scale industries which need those funds in abundance because they are the ones that are the big job creators and keep the Indian economy going.
Finance Minister also clarified the often over-stated labour issues, saying these were no longer there as the negative environment of disruption of industrial activity is long over. He said the labour laws are being fortified by taking the unions into consultation, and there has not been any significant labour resistance in recent times, whether it is disinvestment or privatisation. He pointed out that they haven’t encountered trade union resistance as that is concerned, adding that there are already various kinds of reforms.
