Structural reforms in agri, exports must for growth: Amitabh Kant

Structural reforms in agriculture and exports are needed to bring growth rate back to higher levels, Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant said Tuesday.

He also said the fundamentals of the economy are intact which will help the government take back the economy to the higher growth trajectory soon despite the global slowdown.

Comments come at a time when the economy has slowed to a six-year low of 5 percent in the June quarter and exports began to degrew, amidst the deepening slump even in the low-ticket FMGC sector, leave alone the high-ticket automobiles.

"If we have to grow at a higher rate of 9-10 percent for a long period, we need to take structural reforms in agriculture and exports," Kant told a function.

Admitting that the structural reforms like GST, and IBC etc had some impact in growth, he said in the long-run these reforms will take the country to higher growth path.

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The government is alive, receptive and despite the global headwinds, we are very conscious that we have to take the country back to very high trajectory growth rate as our fundamentals are totally intact and we have a very vibrant private sector and have a government which is committed to reforms, he said.

On divestment, he said soon the government will do a lot of asset monetization. "We will put on block roads, airports, power transmission lines, and shipping terminals for privatisation and that is when credit flow will start."

It is not possible to grow for a long time without structural reforms in the agriculture sector where close to 58 percent of the country's lives, he said, adding, "you cannot keep growing on subsidies or just by giving assistance to farmers without ensuring better markets, technology or contract farming."

It is not possible to grow at a higher rate for long without exports and we need to learn the art of size and scale of manufacturing.

"Many of you will say that this is not an opportune time for exports because there is a trade war going on. Our share in global exports is under 2 percent so every crisis is an opportunity. This is the best time to penetrate global markets," he added. 

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