Speaking to reporters in Tiruchirappalli on October 26, Sitharaman said the Centre’s annual budgets reflected its resolve to bring down the fiscal deficit. She added that the Union government had been implementing measures to reduce its debt burden, an approach that international organisations had recognised for its discipline.
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Acknowledging concerns about India’s debt levels, the finance minister said governments across the world had faced mounting debt challenges since the Covid-19 pandemic.
She, however, maintained that India’s fiscal deficit had declined consistently over the years and that the country’s debt burden was on a downward trajectory.
On the rupee, Sitharaman clarified that the RBI’s role was to prevent sudden movements in the currency rather than determine its exchange rate. Her comments come amid concerns about currency volatility and its potential implications for import costs and domestic inflation.
Addressing inflation, the minister said the government was taking steps to raise per capita income and shield people from adverse economic developments.Sitharaman identified the Covid pandemic, geopolitical conflicts and rising crude oil prices as external factors that had contributed to inflationary pressures.
The Centre, she said, continued to take measures to limit their impact on the public.
Earlier, speaking at the platinum jubilee celebrations of Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College (SRC), her alma mater, Sitharaman called for greater economic opportunities for women to accompany the progress made in education.
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She said the next priority was to ensure that women’s educational achievements translated into employment, entrepreneurship and leadership opportunities.
Highlighting women’s participation in small businesses, Sitharaman noted that approximately two-thirds of loans disbursed under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana had gone to women, helping them establish and expand their enterprises.
The finance minister also urged educational institutions to deepen their research capabilities, build stronger industry partnerships and make better use of government programmes designed to improve skills and employability.
Referring to the government’s industrial training institute (ITI) modernisation initiative, she said the programme involved upgrading 1,000 government ITIs with an allocation of Rs 60,000 crore, with industry participating as a co-manager.
Sitharaman further called for international cooperation in emerging technology fields, including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology and climate science. Such collaboration, she said, would help prepare students for future opportunities in a changing global economy.
The FM’s comments linked the government’s broader economic priorities — fiscal consolidation, inflation management and currency stability — with the need to expand employment and enterprise opportunities, particularly for women, through education, skill development and industry participation.
With inputs from PTI & ANI