18.10.19

India democracy-loving, capitalist-respecting: FM

Investors can find no better place in the world than India that has a democracy-loving and capitalist-respecting environment, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

She also assured international investors at an interaction session at the IMF’s headquarters that the government was continuously working to bring reforms.
“It (India) is one of the fastest growing (economies) even today. It has the best skilled manpower and a government that is continuously doing what is required in the name of reforms, above all democracy and rule of law,” Sitharaman said.

Responding to a question on why investors should allocate funds for India, she said that even if the court system is a bit delayed, India is a transparent and open society.

The rule of law works and there are a lot of reforms happening, even those to cut down delays, she said.

“So you will not have anything better... democracy-loving, capitalist-respecting environment... in India,” Sitharaman said at the event hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in association with the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum. Responding to questions from major insurance companies, who urged her to remove the cap on investment in this sector, she said the government needs to understand what the expectations of the sector are other than removing of the cap.

Sitharaman said she would be quite open to it and they could send her the details. The Union finance minister, however, said she will not be able to give them an assurance at this point of time, but will work on the matter.

Asserting that the government is engaging with everyone on a weekly basis and there is no trust deficit with the corporate sector and investors, she said there is a greater understanding that this government is willing to hear and wanting to respond.

The government is committed to maintaining fiscal deficit in India, she said. To a question on the slowdown in the Indian economy, the finance minister said the government is taking steps to address problems in the “stressed” sectors.

Earlier in the day in New York, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum in partnership with FICCI, Bank of America and Citibank hosted an interaction with institutional investors. Senior members of the New York financial services industry were present for this round table that included insurance companies, debt restructuring companies, private equity, equity investors and banks. 

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