Arun Jaitley to investors: Don't panic, trust economy's strength

The government will continue to pursue policies to support growth amid global slowdown.

New Delhi:

Attributing the recent crash in stock market to global factors, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 12, said there was no need for "exaggerated panic" and investors should keep the economy's inherent strength in mind while investing. The Finance Minister said the government will continue to pursue policies to support growth amid global slowdown.

The benchmark BSE Sensex, which crashed by massive 807.7 points yesterday on global cues, was trading up around 100 points in the pre-close session on February 12. "... it would be a part of prudent investment reaction that the inherent strengthen of Indian economy is kept in mind by investors rather than react disproportionately to what the global developments are," Jaitley said. The minister said major sell-off in global markets created a chain reaction impacting the markets world over including in India.

"There could be several reasons, which are predominantly outside the country, the uncertainty in the Fed rate or what's happening in Europe or the slowdown anticipated in China. Now, these global factors will remain and will have to be tackled globally by those economies. "... there need not be any exaggerated panic in India for the reason that India as an economy even in the midst of global slowdown has clearly stood out to maintain a 7.5 per cent plus growth rate," Jaitley said.

The government is formulating policies and "is conscious of the areas of support which are required to be given to the economy and fully committed to providing those support." Amid global slowdown, Jaitley said services and manufacturing sectors are both recovering and hopefully would improve further on account of monsoon and generate further demand.