Govt taking all steps to increase per capita income, says Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

TIRUCHY: The Indian government has been taking every possible step to increase per capita income and reduce the fiscal deficit to bring national debt down to 50 per cent of the GDP by 2030, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, highlighting unrest across the world.

The minister spoke to reporters in Tiruchy after participating in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of her alma mater, Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College for Women, and inaugurated the exhibition and released the jubilee souvenir.

The Reserve Bank of India has been working on preventing fluctuation in the value of the rupee, but it cannot fix its exchange rates, she had told reporters. Expressing concerns over the volatile conditions of Indian currency, Nirmala said that the country had faced debt challenges in the post-COVID period and the government has been initiating steps to control it. "We are working towards reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio to 50 per cent by 2030," she stressed.

She also pointed out that India has been initiating a series of steps to increase the per capita income despite facing several challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, wars among certain countries and fluctuations in oil prices. "We are very particular that these burdens should not fall on the people, and we will continue to work on it," she said.

The finance minister then noted that the Centre has been taking steps since 2014 to control inflation and ensure price stability. She noted that the timely decision to restrict rice exports has saved domestic consumers from price rise and ensuring the proper MSP has helped the farmers.

Regarding protests against Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, Nirmala said that many cases have been filed in courts and the process was under way. Many political parties have been protesting against it and the government cannot intervene, she clarified. She also refused to comment on the borrowing policy of Tamil Nadu stating it would not be appropriate for her to comment on it being a union minister.