Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Rejects Trump’s “Dead Economy” Remark on India

New Delhi: Rejecting US President Donald Trump’s “dead economy” remark on India, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that global economic growth is currently around 3.2 per cent, while India recorded an 8.2 per cent growth in the last quarter. However, India continues to be one of the fastest-growing major economies globally," she said while replying on the debate on the supplementary demands for grants – first batch for 2025-26 which was taken up in Lok Sabha. Later, the House also approved it through voice vote.

The finance minister also highlighted that India’s economic expansion has become broad-based over the past decade, spanning multiple sectors. “Global growth today stands at 3.2 per cent. India, on the other hand, grew by 8.2 per cent in the last quarter,” the finance minister said.

While raising questions on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the country's economic growth, Sitharaman slammed the opposition members, saying that the IMF accorded a C grade to national accounts due to the old base year, not because of weak economic fundamentals. "The IMF has given a C grade to our national accounts only because the base year is old. It is a technical issue, not a reflection of India’s growth strength,” she said, adding that growth has become quite broad-based in the last ten years and structural reforms and sustained investment have helped strengthen the economy.

Sitharaman also said that she is disappointed that members are saying that this shows a lack of budgetary planning. "Supplementary demands are absolutely necessary for a responsive government. “I don’t allow more than two supplementary demands; if possible I keep only 1 supplementary demand, Sitharaman said.

Concerned with farmers, the finance minister also said that if farmers want more fertilisers and urea, it is the government’s business to get it. "Since Covid, there has been an unpredictable fluctuation in the urea prices and other materials we are importing. Indian farmers have not been let down by the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers. They have ensured that there would be timely disbursal, both for kharif and the oncoming Rabi," she said.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha also passed the first batch of supplementary demands for grants, authorising the government for Rs 41,455 crore additional spending in the current fiscal, including over Rs 18,000 crore expenditure towards fertiliser subsidy.

"The lower house also passed the first batch with gross additional expenditure of Rs 1.32 lakh crore. This includes proposals with a net cash outgo of Rs 41,455.39 crore and Rs 90,812 crore savings by the ministries/departments," the government said.

As per the supplementary, approval of Parliament was sought for spending Rs 18,525 crore on fertiliser and related subsidies, and about Rs 9,500 crore by the petroleum ministry to compensate oil marketing companies for under-recoveries. An additional Rs 1,304 crore has been earmarked for additional expenditure by the Department of Higher Education, and Rs 225 crore by the Commerce Ministry as well.