Terming the Modi government’s performance as ‘miraculous’, NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that all the macroeconomic parameters including growth, inflation and fiscal deficit have significantly improved in the last four years. He noted that the government has done well on all fronts considering that India plunged into a state of policy paralysis and was on a standstill mode during the final years of the UPA regime. He pointed out that with that kind of legacy, it is quite miraculous that the country has come to where it is at this moment in terms of macroeconomics.
Kumar further stated that Indian economy was on decline in 2014, non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks had increased already. Besides, he said that inflation is down now, foreign exchange reserves are high, fiscal deficit is in control and growth has accelerated. However, he admitted that some areas to concern still remain. For example, he said that NPAs of banks are still high, the current account deficit (CAD) has not improved much, but it is still better than 2014.
Apart from this, NITI Aayog vice chairman has pointed out that “Oil prices, which had given us comfort, have increased, which means that we will have to look at macroeconomics all over again to make sure that we can sustain and maintain growth rate, which I think we will be able to do”. Besides, he emphasised on the need to look at corporate governance in the banking sector to improve investment flows. He also expressed the hope that headline inflation won’t go up and core inflation will remain subdued.