Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, was in conversation with R. Sukumar, Editor-in-Chief, Hindustan Times at the 17th edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2019. During the summit, she said, “This 4.5 per cent (GDP numbers) relates to July-Aug-Sept. I don't want to underplay the role of private banks. Nearly Rs 5 lakh crores have been distributed to those who want to take the credit and this has happened in 400 districts of the country. It means money reaching for consumption purposes. The other way is direct benefit transfer.” The theme for this year’s thought conclave is “Conversations for a better tomorrow” and will see political leaders, corporate heads and torchbearers from various fields ideate and debate the issue.