Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday stated that the ongoing West Asia crisis, combined with India's dependence on imports of three major commodities—crude oil and gas, fertilisers, and gold—is contributing to the weakening of the rupee against the US dollar. However, she emphasised that India remains one of the world's fastest-growing economies and that unemployment is easing.
She explained that whenever there is severe fluctuation or volatility in the rupee-dollar exchange rate, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervenes. “It is not to fix a price but to stop the slide. Also, our reserves are falling because foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and foreign direct investments (FDIs) are booking profits and exiting the country due to strategic investments developing in the US. This is causing the fluctuation,” she said.
Sitharaman highlighted the West Asia crisis as a more significant challenge. “Since we do not produce enough crude and gas, and because of the limited domestic supply of fertilisers and gold, a huge amount of forex is going out, which is adding to the rupee versus dollar situation,” she said.
She noted that the government imports fertiliser at about Rs 3,000 per bag and sells it to farmers at Rs 300, implying a subsidy of Rs 2,700 per bag. However, she insisted that the rupee is not alone under pressure, as currencies such as the Japanese Yen and the Korean Won have also fallen sharply.
Despite these constraints, Sitharaman asserted that India's economy is growing and that periodic labour force survey data indicates unemployment is declining. She criticised the opposition for repeatedly questioning the economy's performance. “Even this year's GDP shows every sector, whether services or manufacturing, has grown substantially,” she said. “But when the leader of the opposition constantly says every scheme or decision is going to turn into an economic disaster, then it is as good as undermining peoples’ efforts.”
Sitharaman also acknowledged disruption across industries due to higher reliance on artificial intelligence (AI). “There is a churn because industries are using AI to get perfect results,” she said. She mentioned that the government is offering AI-based training to help people return to industry with the skills needed to protect their jobs.
On the NEET issue, she said the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is directly overseeing it. “It is not that the PM is not speaking on the issue. He is getting work done. A collective effort has been made to resolve the issue,” she said.
Regarding the departure of K Annamalai from the BJP, Sitharaman stated it should not be viewed as arising from personal reasons but from differences of opinion. She said the BJP is a cadre-based organisation and will continue its work. “There have been several instances in the past of functionaries, including BS Yediyurappa ji, the father of our party president BY Vijayendra, quitting the party. But when he came back, we respected him for his decision. BJP respects members when they quit the fold and when they return also. The party does not hold grudges,” she said.
