New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, on Sunday, highlighted India’s strong foreign exchange reserves and its position as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, attracting both global and domestic capital.
“India’s growth story is safe, secure, and stable,” the Minister said in his address at an event organised by leading mutual fund managers and financial advisors in the national capital.
“Today, through initiatives such as ‘Make in India’, our country has become more integrated into global supply chains on the back of our competitive strengths and growing manufacturing capabilities,” he added.
Goyal’s statement on the strong economic fundamentals of the economy comes in the backdrop of India’s forex reserves surging for the seventh straight week to a six-month high of $686.15 billion as on April 18, according to the latest Reserve Bank of India data.
The reserves rose by $8.3 billion for the week ended April 18, after having shot up by as much as $39.2 billion in the preceding six weeks.
A strengthening of the country’s foreign exchange reserves also helps bolster the rupee vis-a-vis the US Dollar, which is good for the economy.
With the recent increase in foreign exchange reserves the rupee has also emerged stronger.
An increase in the foreign exchange reserves gives the RBI more headroom to stabilise the rupee when it turns volatile.
The RBI can intervene in the spot and forward currency markets by releasing more dollars to prevent the rupee from going into a free fall.
Conversely, a declining forex reserve leaves the RBI less space to intervene in the market to prop up the rupee.
An IMF report, released last week, said India continues to remain the world’s fastest growing major economy and the only country expected to clock more than six per cent growth in the next two years.
The IMF outlook report pegs India’s economic growth rate at 6.2 per cent in 2025 and 6.3 per cent in 2026 which is more than 2 percentage points above second ranking China’s economic growth forecast at 4 per cent for 2025 and 4.6 per cent in 2026.
The US, which has triggered tariff turmoil across the globe, is expected to see its GDP growth slowing to 1.8 per cent this year, which is expected to decline further to 1.7 per cent in 2026, according to the report.
(IANS)
