Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said India's growth story remains intact, adding that the central bank's 7.2 per cent GDP growth projection for the current fiscal does not appear out of place.
India has made remarkable progress in extricating people out of poverty, he said, noting that structural drivers play bigger role in macroeconomic outcome. The RBI governor emphasised on the need to increase women participation in the labour force as India's data is lower than global average.
Speaking during the inaugural address at FIBAC 2024, an annual banking conference, Das said revealed that data shows fundamentals of growth drivers are gaining momentum, pointing out that the headline growth dipped because of lower government expenditure at central and state levels due to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The RBI governor said the expenditure of both the Centre and the state governments would pick up pace in line with respective budget estimates.
Das called the corporate sector to come forward to step up their current investments in the backdrop of visible signs of such private investments in the country.
He claimed that the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and reforms in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) have yielded long-term positive outcomes, adding that the country now needs reforms in land, labour and agri market.
Das also hoped that a good monsoon so far and healthy sowing of kharif crops could bring the food inflation down. He said the best contribution that the RBI monetary policy can make for sustainable growth is price stability.
He said banks must develop tailored products for MSMEs, pointing out that these companies remain small in size and do not scale up due to various reasons. He also sought similar tailor-made products for women entrepreneurs.
Das said only regulated entities will be allowed on Unified Lending Interface (ULI) platform to ensure prudent lending and it will not be a select club of few players.
