Growth down, but there cannot be a recession in India: Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday acknowledged that the India is growing at a slower pace but she also ensured that there will not be recession in India.

“If you are looking at the economy with a discerning view, you see that growth may have come down but it is not a recession yet, it will not be a recession ever,” Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha in her reply to questions on the economic situation of the country.

“Thirty-two steps taken to revive growth in economy are bearing fruits,” she said.

She also pointed out how India's GDP was at 6.4 during 2009-2014 and how it rose to 7.5 percent between 2014 and 2019.

Opposition MPs who were dissatisfied with her reply chose to stage a walk out of the Rajya Sabha. India’s GDP decelerated to the slowest pace in 25 quarters in the June quarter, growing by only 5% as a downturn in household consumption took its toll on key sectors. It marked the fifth straight quarterly decline in growth — the first time since June 1997 that such a prolonged slump has been recorded.

The government has continuously claimed that despite the slow phase of growth, India remains the fastest in the world.