Nirmala Sitharaman meets IMF chief; discusses impact of geopolitical situation on global growth

Kristalina Georgieva also appreciated India's help to Sri Lanka in tackling its economic crises and assured that the IMF would continue to actively engage with the island nation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva and discussed a range of issues, including impact of geopolitical situation on global growth.

During the meeting held on the sidelines of the ongoing annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the IMF chief highlighted India's well-targeted policy mix that has helped the country's economy remain resilient even with a limited fiscal space.

She also appreciated India's help to Sri Lanka in tackling its economic crises and assured that the IMF would continue to actively engage with the island nation.

"Discussing the recent geopolitical developments, FM Smt. @nsitharaman and Ms  @KGeorgieva raised concerns about its impact on global economy and the challenges linked to the rising energy prices due to it," the finance ministry said in a tweet.

With regard to Indian policy on economic revival, Ms Sitharaman highlighted the government's commitment to support economic growth through capital expenditure (capex) and underlined that the country's accommodative fiscal stance accompanied by major structural reforms and strong monetary policies have helped in its post-pandemic recovery.

India is expected to record the highest growth rate among large economies of the world. As per the Economic Survey, the country may log 8-8.5% GDP growth in the current fiscal.

To achieve high growth, the government has raised capex by 35.4% for the financial year 2022-23 to ₹7.5 lakh crore to continue the public investment-led recovery of the pandemic-hit economy. The capex last year was pegged at ₹5.5 lakh crore.