Mumbai, January 17: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who flew to the United States on Tuesday for a medical check-up, addressed the The India Business Leader Awards (IBLA) 2018 in Mumbai today via a videoconference. At the event, Jaitley left no stone unturned to lambaste the Opposition, calling them the "nawabs of negativity" who want to derail India's growth story.

Highlighting the success of the NDA government in the last four-and-a-half years, Jaitley claimed that India is now among the six top growing economies, while it was categorised among the "fragile five" ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Arun Jaitley Health Update: Finance Minister Leaves For US For Medical Check up Days Before Interim Budget 2019.

Under the incumbent government's tenure, concrete steps have been taken towards narrowing the fiscal deficit while not cutting down on the welfare schemes, Jaitley told the gathering.

"Fiscal prudence, consolidation is always rewarded and we have stuck to fiscal prudence with this government," the Finance Minister said.

On being asked whether the government is confident of being re-elected in 2019, Jaitley said the Narendra Modi regime has performed honestly, lived up to the mark, and has nothing to fear about.

"We have been too long in the game to have any nervousness. We are proud of what we have done. There are no jitters whether it's vote on account or general elections," Jaitley said.

The Finance Minister stressed that India would need a "stable and decisive" government post 2019, to achieve the growth trajectory of beyond 8 per cent. "As we get to the general elections, India needs to have a continuity of policies, stability and decisiveness," he added.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 17, 2019 08:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).