New Delhi, 5/8: Mr Subhrakant Panda, MD, IMFA & Senior VP, FICCI called on Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman at her office in New Delhi on August 4th and commended her for deft handling of the economy during challenging times and made several suggestions to which she was very receptive.
Speaking about the meet, Mr Subhrakant Panda, MD, IMFA & Senior VP, FICCI said, “Though many questions were raised about the timing and extent of stimulus measure during the pandemic, the manner of intervention was the right thing to do as is evident from runaway inflation where “helicopter money” was abundant. Most importantly, no Indian went hungry thanks to the food subsidy.”
Mr Panda elucidating about the economic conditions said that the underlying fundamentals of the Indian economy are strong and it is poised to grow at a rate of 7-7.4% depending upon how certain external issues pan out. Inflation will moderate especially given that commodity prices have come off highs.
The Finance Minister reiterated her support of RBI’s policy to have an orderly movement of the currency rather than defend a particular level. She was also very receptive to the suggestions given by Mr Panda and the visiting FICCI delegation.
Mr Subhrakant Panda was accompanied by FICCI’s Past Presidents Mr Harsh Pati Singhania and Mr Sandip Somany along with DG Arun Chawla.