India insulated from economic fallout, says Jaitley

Singapore, Sep 19: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said despite a global slowdown and its impact on countries, India remains insulated from the economic fallout and stands out as a "brighter spot". "India is not a part of the Chinese production chain, significantly.

In fact, the two segments – commodities and oil – that been adversely affected certainly don't adversely impact India (which is) a net importer," Jaitley said last night at The Singapore Summit 2015 here.

"Therefore, the more we see a low price regime, the more India continues to benefit. Notwithstanding the slowdown globally, we do stand out as one of the brighter spots," he was quoted as saying by The Straits Times.

Allaying concerns about the pace of the BJP-led Indian regime's economic reforms, the Union Minister said the government has moved "fairly rapidly". "I welcome a certain amount of restlessness," the Singapore Daily quoted Jaitley as saying.

"I think the government has moved fairly rapidly. The government's direction is absolutely clear," he stressed as he told a gathering of around 400 global business leaders, investors and government officials that headway has been made on four fronts – labour, tax, power supply and land reforms. He also added that the Indian government has solved most of the "legacy issues".

Jaitley, who arrived here yesterday, called on Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and met Foreign Minister K Shanmugam, state investor Temasek Holdings and international investors during a day-long series of meetings.

PTI