New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that India is still the fastest growing economy whose financial situation is much better than most other countries.
Speaking during a debate on the issue of price hike in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the global agencies have ranked India's economy higher than most countries and there is no sign of recession in the country.
While comparing India with neighbouring countries such as China, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh as well as the US and European countries, she said that on the basis of various parameters and data, India is in a much better state than most other countries at the global level.
"We never saw a pandemic of this kind before and all of us were trying to make sure that people are provided extra help. I recognise the role played by everybody, including the MPs and state governments," she said.
The minister added, "I fully credit the people of India for this... Even amid adversity, we were able to stand up and be recognised as the fastest growing economy."
During the debate, there was a war words between Sitharaman and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK MP Kanimozhi, Trinamool Congress MPs Saugata Roy and Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Another Trinamool MP, Kalyan Banerjee, sharply criticised Sitharaman and even said, "You don't know how to talk."
As the opposition members were not satisfied with her reply, many leaders cutting across party lines staged a walkout.
The Finance Minister, who is facing criticism over the GST imposed on food items, also clarified that no GST has been imposed on pencils, adding that no GST is being levied on loose items.
"Today morning we announced GST collection for July at Rs 1.49 lakh crore, the second highest since the introduction of GST. This is the sixth consecutive month when collections have been above 1.4 lakh crore," the minister said.
Sitharaman added that the government is making efforts to bring down retail inflation below 7 per cent. Talking about domestic commodities, she underlined that prices of edible oil have corrected sharply following the steps taken by the government.