New Delhi, April 27 (IANS): Terming the year 1991 in the Indian economy as a "defining moment", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that the country's economy should have been opened up much earlier to have good results.

Delivering a lecture in the memory of D.P. Kohli, the first director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here, the minister said the year of 1991 marked a process where the country decided to unleash energies of its citizens.

"I always believe that 1991 was defining moment for India; what started in 1991 could have started at least a decade before. The year marked a process where India decided to unleash energies of its citizens rather than restrict them," Jaitley said during the lecture on 'Economic challenges for an aspirational India'.

"Probably, we would have been ahead of where we are today," the minister said.

Without naming the previous government at the Centre, Jaitley said credibility of "our decision-making" was costing us.

He said the country's growth rates had started slowing down, inflation had started picking up and the indecisiveness had been costing us.

However, he said that 2014 brought significant change for the country.

"(The) 2014 brought significant changes. After 30 years we had a clear mandate and government with virtually a single party majority was voted into power," Jaitley said, adding that now the decision on important matters could be taken without delay.