No question of India getting into stagflation or recession: FM

NEW DELHI: India is facing no risk of recession or stagflation as macroeconomic fundamentals of the economy are strong, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.

Replying to a debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha, she said the GST collection and Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) are indicating that the Indian economy is getting more robust.

GST, introduced in July 2017, touched a record high of Rs 1.68 trillion in April 2022.

This is the sixth time that the monthly GST collection crossed the Rs 1.4 trillion-mark since the inception of Goods and Services Tax and the fifth month at a stretch since March 2022, she said.

She also said that the banking sector in the country is also healthy compared to other countries.

Gross NPAs of scheduled commercial banks have reached a six-year low of 5.9%, she said, adding that government debt to GDP ratio has come down to 56.29% in FY22.

Efforts are being made to bring down retail inflation below 7%, the minister said. Prices of edible oils have corrected sharply following steps taken by the government, she added.

This is the sixth time the monthly GST collection crossed the Rs 1.4 trillion-mark since the inception of Goods and Services Tax and the fifth month at a stretch since March 2022