India Amidst World’s Economic Whirlwind

Price rise, supply disruptions due to Russia-Ukraine war and China lockdown have taken the fizz out of post-pandemic economic recovery. How will this impact India?

- Ashutosh Kumar

ON TWO OCCASIONS in early June, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the country about the economy’s growth outlook and fundamentals. On June 6, in a meeting of BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors, she said India’s growth will continue to be supported by “fiscal spending along with an investment push.” Two days later, on June 8, while speaking at a finance ministry event, she referred to “sound” macroeconomic fundamentals, attributing them to reforms by NDA government since 2014. “Major steps by government before the Covid-19 pandemic hit us, which include reducing corporate tax rate, ensuring that economy is greatly digitised, bringing in GST (goods and services tax) and IBC (insolvency and bankruptcy code), all this heavy-lifting prepared us for the unprecedented situation of the pandemic,” she said.