India is the fastest growing economy in the world, but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday conceded that the government gets its own share of "sleepless nights".
"We still have the challenge of improving upon our private sector investment, our rural demand, investing in our rural areas because our agriculture in the last two years, in the absence of a good monsoon has faced difficult situations," he said. (Watch)
"We have been able to maintain a macro-economic data in situation which is far more favourable than what it has been in the past and that is what makes us as India, the fastest growing economy in the world, but that does not mean that we don't have our own shares of sleepless nights."
Mr Jaitley's comments come at a time when the domestic economy is growing at a slower-than-expected pace and demand continues to be sluggish. The Sensex and rupee have witnessed a selloff as foreign institutional investors pulled out over Rs 11,000 crore from equities - the biggest outflow in the first month of the year since January 2008.
The crash in global commodities has indirectly impacted India's exports and led to volatility in stocks and currency markets, Mr Jaitley said today. He however quickly added that India is on a much "higher and a stable footing" as compared to the rest of the world.
Speaking at the 'Invest Karnataka 2016' global investors' event in Bengaluru, Mr Jaitley said India is being "distinctively" noticed by global investors as the economy has showed resilience by surviving through three global financial crises in 2001, 2008 and 2015.
"And in this situation where the world investors are looking at India, I think it is an important challenge for India to respond and respond in one voice. We can never allow our federalism or our democracy to become an obstacle, we have to make sure that it remains our strength and therefore easier decision making, easier passage of laws, easier taking of the reform measures are all factors which are going to attract investors," Mr Jaitley said.
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