India will maintain high economic growth for the next two decades and it will do better than China, said finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday.
“Brick by brick poor people are being pulled out of their substandard lives,” said Jaitley at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in Delhi. The Narendra Modi government’s programmes are ensuring healthcare, food and housing for the poor, he said.
Jaitley said high oil prices and the Indian rupee weakening against the US dollar were related to global reasons and they were a temporary phenomena. “There are huge avenues for growth for Indian economy in the next 10-20 years,” said Jaitley. “I don’t think the sentiment with regard to Indian economy is negative.”
Jaitley accused the previous United Progressive Alliance government of doling out loans irresponsibly and mismanaging the economy. “On economy, nothing was worse than 2013,” he said.