Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Thursday that India is setting the global standards on the digital front and that the country is confident it will be able to weather geopolitical and economic uncertainties and still perform.
When asked about India’s economic prospects in the face of global uncertainty, Sitharaman replied that India is now setting global standards and countries around the world are recognizing this level of achievement.
She made the comments following an event at Johns Hopkins University in Washington on “Technology, Finance and Governance: The Multiplier Effect.”
“There were times when India looked up to global benchmarks and global standards… but in the digital space, be it payments, identity, health or education, India has actually set the standard. There are countries that recognize that this scale of performance is absolutely watertight proof that it is infallible over the years,” the minister replied when asked about India’s economic resilience amid global uncertainty.
“There are countries that recognize that this performance scale is absolutely watertight proof that it is infallible across the years and the numbers,” she added.
The finance minister said the Indian economy is doing well mainly because there is “comfortable” confidence in what has happened over the past two years. She said the revival of India’s economy is on a sustainable path and will remain resilient in the face of a possible global recession.
“Because of the global recession if my demand falls exports will suffer and because of the strong dollar my Indian rupee would suffer – all of this taken into account – there is a sense of confidence in India, we will get through this and we will still be able to perform “, she said.
In her prepared speech, Sitharaman previously said that there were fears in India after the government started digitizing the economy in 2014, but people’s initial inhibitions have been removed with the help of digital technology.
“There was this fear that you might want to do a lot of things to bring technology to the people, you can invest to bring technology to the people, but people won’t be willing to adapt. People may not feel comfortable and ready to use such devices. The general feeling of condescension that the villagers have…that kind of[mentality],” she said.
Explaining the Modi government’s approach, she said that good governance in India is achieved through the use of technology and some transformation has taken place through capacity building to digitize the economy.
She said that some transformation has taken place in India in the recent past and people have adapted to the change with great ease.
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