Washington– India, since it is growing much faster as compared to the rest of the world, has become natural recipient of a higher level of foreign direct investment (FDI), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.
“India has become far more aspirational than ever before. So compared to the rest of the world, we are doing much better,” Jaitley, who is here attending the annual fall meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, told reporters on Sunday.
“Since India is growing much faster, as compared to the rest of the world, it has become the natural recipient of a higher level of FDI,” he said.
“For the rest of the world, whereas we aspire to do better in this adverse environment, they consider it extremely impressive. So there is a lot of global buzz around India,” he added.
The Finance Minister, however “put a caveat”, saying by India’s own yardstick, its current growth rate is not enough.
“We can do still better, which in a sense, is not a bad thing to happen. To be restless, to be impatient is a sign of wanting to do better,” he said.
“I think with the kind of investments, both domestic and international, that we are getting, a reasonable amount of growth will always be there. If growth returns to the world, then you would probably move up. Structural reforms like GST (Goods and Services Tax) can only add to that,” he added.
He pointed to the unsupportive global environment and stagnant investment in some private sectors as inhibiting factors.
“In India, we have to learn to live in an environment where the world is going to move slowly. And the world is not going to be very supportive of growth. The global environment is not very supportive of growth,” he said.
Jaitley has a series of bilateral meetings here with his counterparts from various countries, including the US, Britain and China, Iran, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, said the Indian Finance Ministry.
