Higher capital expenditure will keep economic revival going, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is hopeful that the higher allocation of capital expenditure in Budget 2022 will help maintain the momentum in reviving the economy. In an exclusive interview with Rahul Joshi, Group Editor-in-Chief, Network18, Sitharaman said she was hopeful of capex firing up the economy. Sitharaman also said in her interview that India’s  very own virtual currency by the country’s central bank will be introduced soon “sooner rather than later”. Read full transcript of Sitharaman’s interview here This after the finance minister in her budget speech Tuesday announced that the RBI would launch the digital rupee using blockchain and other technologies in 2022-23. The creation of India’s very own virtual currency is aimed at boosting the digital economy and digital currency will also be a cheaper and a more efficient currency management system, Sitharaman said while presenting the Budget. Revealing the future plan on digital currency, Sitharaman told News18, “Once it [digital currency] goes through Parliament, RBI will move forward to take Cabinet approval and issue the digital rupee”.

The name of the central bank digital currency has not been decided yet, she said.

While the CBDC is a digital currency, it is not comparable to the private virtual currencies that have gained immense popularity in recent years. RBI has been examining use cases and working out a phased implementation strategy for the introduction of CBDC with little or no disruption, the finance ministry earlier said. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has repeatedly said that the central bank is worried about cryptocurrencies and their recent craze in India as these are still unregulated assets.  Cryptocurrencies are a serious concern to RBI from a macroeconomic and financial stability standpoint, Das said earlier. Explaining the motive behind bringing India’s own virtual currency, the finance minister told News18 that the government is planning to draw a distinction between privately generated crypto assets and digital currency. “Private people using the blockchain create it but that cannot be the currency. Currency would be when the RBI issues it. That is why we have gone to Parliament to say we have put the proposal to say the central bank would issue a digital currency,” the finance minister said. The central government in the Union Budget on Tuesday announced a sharp increase of 35.4 per cent in the capital expenditure to Rs 7.50 Ian crore in the financial year 2022-2023, around 2.9 per cent of the GDP. “We wanted to continue the momentum of growth. There is no doubt in the Prime Minister’s mind that growth has to be ensured,” the finance minister said. Explaining the growth trajectory of the country, Sitharaman said that exports are growing. “Export potential is there for private sector investment. Newer capacities are definitely going to come in,” she said. Despite naysayers, foreign direct investment (FDI) is still coming into the country in a big way, said the minister. “Therefore, companies are happy to be partnering with FDI and they are increasing capacities. PLI scheme also indicates that” she mentioned. The Budget announcements came just days ahead of polls in five states, including Uttar Pradesh. “The upcoming assembly elections were not on our mind when we were preparing the Union Budget,” the finance minister, however, said. A day ahead of the Budget, the Economic Survey 2022 projected an 8 per cent to 8.5 per cent growth rate for the Indian economy in the 2022-23 fiscal year. “All the indicators suggested the Indian economy is well-placed to take on the challenges of 2022-23,” it said. If things go as they are going now, and all sectors revive with support from the government or system, 8 per cent growth is achievable, the finance minister said in the interview. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.