: India’s growth story will be driven by domestic economy in FY24: Finance Secy Somanathan #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS India’s growth story will be driven by domestic economy in FY24: Finance

@StockMarketNEWS Wed 08 Feb, 2023

Posted in: #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS

India’s growth story will be driven by domestic economy in FY24: Finance Secy Somanathan #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS
India’s growth story will be driven by domestic economy in FY24: Finance Secy Somanathan New Delhi, Feb 7 (KNN) The growth of India in FY24 will be led by the domestic economy, Finance Secretary T V Somanathan who is the top bureaucrat in the Union Finance Ministry told Hindustan Times.

He feels that domestic economy will be the key growth driver in the upcoming financial year as global demands could shrink due to headwinds such as high inflation in major economies and supply chain disruptions due to the ongoing Ukraine war.

In an interview with Hindustan Times he said that the Adani crisis will not have wider ramifications for the Indian economy.

“The global situation is a little difficult, because there is likely to be a reduction in growth next year -- in the Western countries, particularly. So, we will not get much of support from other economies. We’ll have to stand on our own feet. That is why such a big increase in capital expenditure has been proposed,” he said.

Talking about the reduction of Budget Estimate (BE) for MGNREGA from Rs 73,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore, he said the government has two reasons for this.

“One, we have made major increase in the Budget provision for PM Aawas Yojana (Rural). In fact, the increase is more than 100 per cent. Similarly, we have made a major increase in the Budget provision for the Jal Jeevan Mission. Both these schemes are of rural works. These are works carried out in rural areas using same kind of semi-skilled or unskilled labour, which is used in MGNREGA.”

So, the government’s view is that the additional Rs 40,000 crore going on these two schemes will create considerable job opportunities in rural areas.

Therefore, the demand for MGNREGA is expected to moderate to that extent.

The second reason he explained to Hindustan Times is that the economy has normalised.

“We are going back to almost the 2019-20 situation. This will also lead to moderation of demand, and MGNREGA is a demand-based scheme. So, we feel that the demand is likely to be less than the last year. That’s why the provision has been reduced. However, if actual demand goes up it will be met through supplementary demands for grants,” he added. (KNN Bureau)