Jaitley Urges Indian Private Sector to Shed Caution and Invest

Davos: Urging private sector to give up caution and make investments, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said it has become absolutely imperative to add to the credibility of the Indian economy, with the world looking up to the country as a bright spot amid global headwinds.

"The world regards India as a bright spot because we are the only one growing at 7 per cent plus rate. The investors are investing in India and are looking positively at India.

"We must carry on structural reforms, add to the credibility of the Indian economy, concentrate on higher public expenditure and attract higher FDI (foreign direct investment)," Jaitley told PTI in an interview here.

The finance minister, who was here to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting that ended last night, further said "the private sector must give up caution and invest".

According to him, there is further headroom available for India's GDP growth rate from the current 7-7.5 per cent and would require some additional growth engines while the government's focus currently is on reviving private sector investments and attracting more foreign investments.

With headwinds from slowdown in the Chinese economy and problems in the US and Europe, Jaitley said the world is now getting ready to deal with a new kind of situation where the problems are much different from those witnessed earlier.

"So far, the concern used to be high oil prices, today the concern is low oil prices," he said with regard to the global economy.

"My own impression is that the economy and the companies which are predominantly service sector-dependent, those segments are surviving. The companies and the economies which

are dealing with energy, oil, metals and commodities are more adversely impacted.

"There is a mood of great concern," he noted.

Asked about the key takeaways from his own interactions with global leaders and from the panel discussions where he spoke, Jaitley said the unanimous view here was that India must respond appropriately and in a responsible manner to carry out reforms and grow further in the current economic scenario.