New Delhi [India], January 31 (ANI): Ahead of the Budget session for the year 2024-2025, which is slated to roll out tomorrow, the President and CEO of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Mukesh Aghi, said that India’s growth story is the result of the last ten years of having a responsible budget.
He underlined how the budget has always remained focused on balanced fiscal deficit.
“Well, India’s growth story is the result of the last ten years of having a responsible budget that is focused on a balanced fiscal deficit, controlling inflation and investing more and more in capital. And that growth story will continue with capital spending,” Aghi told ANI in an interview.
“When you have a four trillion dollar economy, growing almost by over 7 per cent, and continue to grow in that direction, that shows the internal consumption picking up, internal capital, and infrastructure spending are moving forward and maintaining a lower inflation rate, so I think the the budget, which has been used prudently in the last 10 years, we expect this to go forward in the right direction,” he underlined.
The USISPF President also highlighted the role of Indian diaspora in driving the country’s growth story on global stage.
He said, “If you look at the funds coming out of the Indian diaspora, they crossed for the first time over 100 billion dollars, and these funds are used either for personal consumption or in investments.”
He said that Indians, who are outside India, are driving a substantial amount of growth for the country.
“Indians, outside India which are driving substantial amount of growth story for the country also. So they have a pivotal role to play in thuis growth strategy and growth story of India,” he said, lauding the role of diaspora in uplifting the growth story of India.
Aghi, as he further went on to say, noted that if growth scenario is to be looked at, one factor is US companies are de-risking from China.
“One factor is US companies are de-risking from China, and they are moving their manufacturing base out of China. Yes, there are countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Cambodia and thailand, but wasting substantial amount of manufacturing, moving to India, so that capital spending by US companies is increasing the growth story.”
He said that it is the “rural consumption, which is driving India’s growth story.”
“So, we expect this momentum to continue as the stress factor goes between US and China, and US companies looking for alternative, de-risking to their supply chain, and India becomes and answer to that,” Aghi told ANI.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its growth forecast for 2024, has predicted that India will emerge as the fastest-growing economy yet again with a robust growth of 6.5 per cent.
On the other hand, other major economies will be showing modest growth. As per the report, the US will grow at 2.1 per cent, Germany will grow at 0.5 per cent, France at 1 per cent, Japan at 0.9 per cent and China at 4.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu recently said that the government has kept the inflation under control despite global challenges and did not allow the burden on people to increase.
“The world has faced two wars and Covid-19 in the past few years. Despite the global crises, my government kept inflation under control across the country and did not put the burden on the citizens,” the President said in her address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Wednesday.
The President said 2023 was a historic year for the country when it maintained the momentum to be the fastest-growing major economy.
Notably, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the interim Union Budget on Thursday.
The interim budget typically takes care of the fiscal needs of the intervening period until a government is formed after the Lok Sabha polls. (ANI)
