New Delhi, Nov 6 (UNI) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that India needs a lot of big and world-class banks, and the work has commenced in this regard. She urged the banking sector to support growth by expanding credit availability.
While speaking at an event organised by the State Bank of India (SBI), the Finance Minister said the government has taken countless path-breaking reform measures to improve ease of doing business since 2014. She stressed that policy consistency and transparency have encouraged investment.
“Banks must deepen and widen credit flow to productive sectors to promote growth,” she said, adding that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate cuts will spur demand and investment.
“GST rate cut-driven demand to unleash virtuous investment cycle, speed up growth,” she stated.
The Finance Minister also mentioned that the government has saved over Rs 4 trillion through direct benefit transfers (DBT). “250 million people have been pulled out of multi-dimensional poverty in the last decade,” she said.
Further, Sitharaman also said the government is “not here to shut the door on futures and options trading”.
“The government is here to remove the roadblocks and work on them. It is investors’ responsibility to understand the associated risks,” she added.
The minister said discussions are underway between the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on ways to build world-class.
The Finance Minister also said efforts to finalise trade agreements with the US and the EU are in “full force.”
She also stressed that India’s economic philosophy of atmanirbharta (self-reliance) does not mean shutting doors. Instead, it means being strong enough to meet domestic needs while staying deeply connected with global trade and supply chains.
