Speak confidently about economy’s resilience, cut cynicism: FM Sitharaman – Economy News

“India needs a lot of optimism. India needs a lot of conversing with optimism. India needs reduction in cynicism. India needs to voice that we believe in ourselves,” Sitharaman said, appealing to businesses and experts to recognise the strength of the broader economy rather than remain apprehensive about its future.

“What I see often is even discerning experts of some domain saying, ‘In my sector it’s all right, but I wonder how it’s going to be from tomorrow.’ If your sector is fine, you would rather want every other sector to be similarly fine,” she said, speaking at an HSBC India event in Mumbai.

She pointed to the country’s strong banking system, robust economic activity and GST collections as evidence of resilience. “Banks are fine. Economy is robust. Look at the GST number which came out yesterday. Can the GST number be reflective of anything else other than robust activity on the ground?” she said.

India’s GST collections grew at the quickest pace in over four years in October to a six-month high of Rs 2.31 lakh crore amidst festive demand and a sharp jump in imports revenue.

Explaining the factors underpinning India’s resilience, Sitharaman cited the aspirations of its people, the expanding middle class and the country’s large domestic market. Rising purchasing power has strengthened domestic consumption, complementing the contribution of exports to economic growth.

She also attributed business confidence to policy clarity, transparency and political stability under the Modi government, saying these factors had helped businesses plan and engage with the government.

Highlighting poverty reduction as a major achievement, the Finance Minister referred to a World Bank report showing nearly 500 million people had been lifted out of poverty between 2011 and 2023.

As per the World Bank, India lifted an estimated 496 million people out of poverty between 2011 and 2023, with the share of the population living below the Lower Middle-Income Country line falling from 57.7% to 16.1%. Extreme poverty, measured by the $3 per day threshold, declined from 27.1% to 2.6% during this period.

She attributed the improvement to a combination of welfare delivery and greater access to healthcare, education, financial services and livelihood opportunities. The Ayushman Bharat scheme, which provides eligible families with cashless treatment coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh, has helped reduce the financial burden of medical emergencies.