Amit Shah praises Sitharaman, says Global slowdown impacting Indian economy

The global slowdown is impacting Indian economy, which has been growing at a slow pace for the last many quarters, but Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is handling it in a "very good manner", Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.

Speaking at theconcluding day of the two-day Times Network India Economic Conclave 2019 here, he rejected allegations that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was broughtby the BJP-led government to divert people's attention from economic issues and fall in GDP growth rate.

India's second quarter GDP growth slowed sharply to 4.5 per cent, the weakest pace in more than six years, as manufacturing output hit a slump and consumer demand as well as private investment weakened.

"As far as the economy is concerned I have stated it many times that there is a global slowdown and it has been impacting India also," Shah said in response to a question on the economic slowdown.

He said Sitharaman is tackling the economy in a "very good manner" and added that the tax collection crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark in the previous month.

"Tax collection for this month is looking better," Shah added.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expansion rate in Q2 in FY20 moderated from 5 per cent recorded in April-June 2019 and is much weaker than the 7 per cent growth posted in July- September 2018, according to official data released last month.

The RBI has already revised GDP growth downwards to 5 per cent for 2019-20 from 6.1 per cent projected in its October policy, while keeping the benchmark interest rates unchanged on concerns of headline inflation breaching its medium-term target despite a worrying slowdown in the economy.

In a sign of economic slowdown, industrial production shrank for third consecutive month in October by 3.8 per cent, mainly due to output fall in manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors, as per official data released last week.