India appears to be much better placed today despite fragile world economy

NEW DELHI (INDIA): India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said though the world economy is quite fragile yet India appears to be much better placed today on the back of improvement in its macro-economic fundamentals.nnThe Finance Minister said that the Government?s measures to eliminate the shadow economy and tax evasion are expected to have a positive impact both on GDP and on fiscal consolidation in the long run.nnThe Finance Minister Jaitley was making his Opening Remarks while chairing the Sixteenth Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) here in New Delhi today.nnThe FSDC meeting was attended by all the Financial Regulators and senior officers of the Ministry of Finance and financial sector regulators. Those who attended the today?s Meeting include Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor, RBI; Ashok Lavasa, Finance Secretary, Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary, Department of Revenue, Anjuly Chib Duggal, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management(DIPAM), Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), U.K. Sinha, Chairman, SEBI; T.S. Vijayan, Chairman, IRDAI, Hemant G Contractor, Chairman, PFRDA and other senior officers of the Government of India and financial sector regulators.nnOn this occasion, the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) made a presentation on the state of economy. The Council reviewed the major issues and challenges facing the economy and noted that India appears to be much better placed today on the back of improvement in its macro-economic fundamentals. The Council also noted that the Government?s measures to eliminate the parallel economy and black money are expected to have a positive impact both on GDP and on fiscal consolidation in the long run.nnThe Regulators offered their suggestions/proposals for the upcoming Budget 2017-18, which were deliberated upon by the Council. The Council also reviewed the present status of NPAs in Banks and the measures taken by Government & RBI for dealing with the stressed assets and discussed on further action in this regard.nnFSDC discussed about the various initiatives taken by the Government and Regulators for promoting financial inclusion/financial literacy efforts and discussed further measures for promoting the same.nnA Brief Report on the activities undertaken by the FSDC Sub-Committee chaired by Governor, RBI was placed before the FSDC. The Council also undertook a comprehensive review of the action taken by members on the decisions taken in earlier meetings of the Council.nnThe Council also discussed issues pertaining to Fintech, digital innovations and cyber security. The Council took note of the initiatives taken in this regard by the Government and the Regulators and discussed on further steps to be taken.