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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has exuded confidence on India's relative and absolute growth performance in the rest of the decade and forecast the country's growth rate to be around 7 per cent this financial year amid reports of a global recession and downgrading of growth rates of almost all major economies.

She said India's foundation for the ongoing successful recovery from the pandemic was laid when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. She stated ‘I am aware that growth forecasts around the world are being revised lower. We expect India's growth rate to be around 7 per cent this financial year. More importantly, I am confident of India's relative and absolute growth performance in the rest of the decade.’

However, Sitharaman said that she observed the Indian economy is not exempt from the impact of swirling global currents. She stated ‘After the unprecedented shock of the pandemic, came the conflict in Europe with its implications for energy, fertiliser and food prices. Now, synchronised global monetary policy is tightening in its wake. So, naturally, growth projections have been revised lower for many countries, including India. This triple shock has made growth and inflation a double-edged sword.’

She underlined India has carved out its growth trajectory supported by the above-normal south-west monsoon, public investment, improvement in capacity utilisation, a broad-based revival in credit growth, strong corporate balance sheets, upbeat consumer and business confidence and receding threat of the pandemic.