Growth is primary driver, fiscal consolidation also key priority for government: Ashwini Vaishnaw at World Economic Forum
Jan 18, 2023
Davos-Klosters [Switzerland], January 18 : Emphasising growth as primary driver for boosting development, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that due focus on moderating inflation and appropriate fiscal and monetary policy measures will help ensure India's GDP momentum in the next 10 years.
Speaking at a session 'India's road to a USD 10-trillion economy', the railway minister said India's central bank is in a very good position with a good balance sheet of the central government.
"The fiscal consolidation is very important priority...But what is important is that we have to look at growth as a primary driver, moderate inflation as the decision point, and combine that fiscal and monetary policy to continue that momentum for the next 10 years," said Vaishnaw, who is also Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology,
Other panelists at the session were Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani and Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran.
Answering a query related to inclusive growth and social security in the country, she said Modi government has re-strategized the way social welfare is seen.
"Firstly, what happened during the pandemic was that the tenacity of tech met the audacity of the administration. And that is what India has set an example to the rest of the world. When you talked of inclusive growth or social security, what the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has done is that he has re-strategised the way how you look at social welfare," she said.
She said there is no short-cut pronouncement of outlays and there is a strategic pathway that is designated before the money is put into the plan.
"When you talk about social security, the Prime Minister looked at it from a social investment point of view. That is re-orientation of governance that has never happened before."
