India is not facing a 5% economic slowdown and continues to be the fastest-growing economy in the world, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said in Lok Sabha.
During Question Hour, the minister said that a number of steps are being taken by the government to strengthen the economy like bank mergers and tax concessions.
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“There is no 5% slump. Where did you get the figure. Show us,” he countered when Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann said the country is facing slump in the economy.
Thakur said India continues to the fastest growing economy in the world even though many countries in the world are facing economic slowdown.
“By 2025, India will be a five trillion dollars economy,” the Union Minister said.
He said strong actions have been taken against black money and the number of taxpayers has been doubled due to demonetisation and implementation of the GST regime.
Thakur said as per the National Statistical Office (NSO), the GDP growth on average was 7.5% in 2014-19, which is the highest amongst G-20 countries.
He said the World Economic Outlook (WEO) of October 2019, projects a significant slowdown in world output and trade in 2019.
“Yet India, despite some recent deceleration of GDP growth, is still projected by WEO to grow at the fastest rate in 2019-20 among G-20 countries,” he said.
Thakur said in the last five years, the government implemented major reforms to build the investment climate in the country for becoming a US 5 trillion-dollar economy.
He said introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in 2016 is a significant step towards cleaning and strengthening the financial system of the country.
Implementation of Goods and Services Tax in 2017 stands out as the most important measure for improving ease of doing business in the country, he said.
Further, in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 Report, India’s ranking improved by 14 positions to 63 in 2019 from 77 in 2018 after GST was implemented in 2017, he said.