Read IMF report to see how economy improved under Modi govt: Arun Jaitley

Taking to both Twitter and Facebook, the minister summarised the IMF report to bring out the differences in the economy between January-February, 2014 and July-August, 2018. “We have come a long way. The last four years have seen a series of reforms, both legislative and otherwise, which have been carried at by the Government. The system have been substantially cleaned up and made more transparent,” Jaitley tweeted.

“In last 4 years, decisiveness has led to easier decision making and made the economy stand out amongst several other countries. I would urge all to read these two IMF reports, the copy of which are now publicly available, any reasonable person will concur with what I have said,” he added.

Highlighting the differences, Jaitley said in 2014, as mentioned in the report, “the tightening of global liquidity has increased external pressures and heightened the focus on India’s macroeconomic imbalances (high inflation, large current account and fiscal deficits) and structural weaknesses (particularly supply bottlenecks in infrastructure, power and mining)”.

“Growth is expected to slow to 4.6 per cent this fiscal year, the lowest level in a decade, reflecting global developments and domestic supply constraints. CPI inflation is expected to remain near double digits for the remainder of the fiscal…,” he added, referring to the report.

We have come a long way. The last four years have seen a series of reforms, both legislative and otherwise, which have been carried at by the Government. The system have been substantially cleaned up and made more transparent.

— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) August 26, 2018

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On the other hand, in 2018, he said, the report stated that “stability-oriented macroeconomic policies and progress on structural reforms continue to bear fruit. Following disruptions related to the November 2016 currency exchange initiative and the July 2017 GST rollout, growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in FY18, but a recovery is underway led by an investment pickup”.

It added: “Headline inflation averaged 3.6 per cent in FY18, a 17-year low, reflecting low food prices on a return to normal monsoon rainfall, agriculture sector reforms, subdued domestic demand, and currency appreciation. With demand recovering and rising oil prices, medium-term headline inflation has risen to 4.9 per cent in May 2018, above the mid-point of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s headline inflation target band of 4 per cent ± 2 per cent. External vulnerabilities remain contained but have risen. The current account deficit widened to 1.9 per cent of GDP in FY18, on rising imports and oil prices. Gross international reserves rose to $424.5 billion at the end of March 2018, but declined to $407.8 billion in the third week of June 2018.”