New Delhi, June 18: Union Minister Arun Jaitley said 7.7 percent economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 ‘firmly’ established India as the fastest growing major economy in the world and the trend is likely to continue for some years. Through a blog on Facebook, Jaitley expressed his views. "With structural reforms like demonetisation, implementation of GST & enforcement of the IBC, Indian economy is moving steadily ahead, and empowering every citizen," he added.

According to him, an analysis of data clearly shows that the construction sector is expanding by double digits. "It is a job creating sector. Investment is increasing. Domestic investment is also increasing. The FDI is at an unprecedented level. The IBC is unlocking the value in the NPAs," said Jaitley.

He further pointed out that expenditure on rural projects has increased. The social sector schemes, more particularly the financial inclusion programmes have created a wave of self-employment. Each one of these is a high job creating sector. Thus he highlighted that India is growing, and stable on all the indices.

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Staying extremely positive over the current scenario, he said that if the trend continues, then as a nation, we are surely looking for a better future. Jaitley explained "The principal source of income of the Central and the State Governments is tax collection. Demonetisation, GST, digitisation, AADHAR and the anti-black money measures are leading to gradual formalisation of the Indian economy. Measures like Foreign Black Money Act, Benami Prohibition Act, Income Disclosure Scheme, changing the tax treaties with Singapore and Mauritius have all yielded rich dividends."

Taking a dig at Chidambaram's comment on the rising fuel prices, he said, "Another distinguished predecessor of mine had stated that the tax on oil should be cut by 25 rupees per litre. He never endeavoured to do so himself. This is a “Trap” suggestion. It is intended to push India into an unmanageable debt – something which the UPA Government left as its legacy." He concluded saying that there has been a transformation from UPA’s “policy paralysis” to the NDA’s “fastest growing economy”.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2018 03:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).