IMF growth projection for India during 2022-23 is 8.2 percent that is fastest growing economy: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the latest IMF growth projection for India during 2022-23 is 8.2 percent which is the fastest among major economies in the world. Addressing the plenary meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF, in Washington D.C. yesterday, Mrs. Sitharaman said, India has continued to implement key structural reforms aimed at enhancing productivity and employment. In the backdrop of the emerging challenges, Mrs. Sitharamansaid tha...

FM Sitharaman says India's digital economy will see exponential growth to 800 billion dollars by 2030

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India's digital economy is expected to witness exponential growth to 800 billion dollars by 2030 on the back of rising internet penetration and increasing income. She said India has over 6,300 fintechs, of which 28% are into investment technology, 27% into payments, 16% into lending, and 9% into banking infrastructure, while over 20% are into other fields. Addressing the IIT Bombay Alumni Association virtually, Sitharaman said that the c...

Centre says no decision taken so far regarding privatization of two PSBs in financial year 2021-22

The Centre on Monday said no decision has been taken so far by the Cabinet committee regarding privatization of two Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in the financial year 2021-22. In a written reply to a question, Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha that the government has announced its intent to take up privatization of two PSBs in the Union Budget for the current fiscal year. She said the Cabinet committee concerned for privatization of PSBs is entrusted to take decisions i...

FM Nirmala Sitharaman holds review meeting on CAPEX for Civil Aviation, Telecommunications

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired review meetings with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Department of Telecommunications in New Delhi yesterday to give a fillip to capital expenditure CAPEX and infrastructure progress in the country. The Finance Minister emphasised that there must be an accelerated phase of infrastructure development and Ministries must continuously make concerted efforts to ensure that project implementation is fast-tracked. The review meetings were attended by Econ...

Minimum wages will apply to all categories of workers, proposes FM Sitharaman in budget speech

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed that minimum wages will apply to all categories of workers, and they will all be covered by the Employees State Insurance Corporation. In her budget speech on last Monday, Mrs Sitharaman said, through a portal, the government will collect relevant information on the unorganized labour force, especially for migrant workers. The data on migrant workers collected through the portal will help formulate health, housing, skill, insurance and food scheme...

FM Nirmala Sitharaman holds pre-budget consultations with Finance Ministers of states, UTs

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held pre-budget consultations with the Finance Ministers of States and Union Territories yesterday. The meeting was held through video conference and was attended by Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, State Finance Ministers and Senior Officers from the States and Union Territories.   The Finance Minister highlighted the importance of the meeting as a sign of co-operative federalism and indicated the manner in which the Union Government was strongly supp...

15th Finance Commission presents its report to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

FM Nirmala Sitharaman participates in 102nd meeting of World Bank Development Committee Plenary

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in 102nd meeting of the World Bank Development Committee Plenary through video conference. In her intervention at this session, Mrs. Sitharaman said that COVID -19 Pandemic continues to impact the developing and developed countries till date and the hard fought gains in reducing the level of poverty, achieved over a number of years, are at risk of being lost. She said, the Government of India has taken several measures to contain the spread of pan...

Centre will facilitate borrowings for States willing to go ahead with proposed borrowing options against future GST collections: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Centre will facilitate borrowings for the States which want to go ahead with its proposed borrowing options against the future GST collections.   The move which aims at compensating the States for their GST revenue shortfall amid the global pandemic has been supported by the majority of the finance ministers of the States and Union territories.   Briefing media in New Delhi after the 43rd GST Council meeting on Monday, Ms. Sitharaman informed...