MUMABI: V Anantha Nageswaran, the chief economic advisor, on Tuesday said Indian economy will grow at over 7 percent, down from above 8 percent of growth rate projected in January.

The economic momentum and the animal spirits, on the other hand, are "unmistakable," he claimed. Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest event in Mumbai, Nageswaran said that "India's own growth rates have slipped off the estimates given in January down to nearly 7-pluspercent for the current financial year."

He claimed that the consequences of the COVID pandemic and the ongoing war in Europe brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine are still being felt around the world and are harming economic growth.

According to the economic study that was released in January of this year, the growth for FY23 will be between 8percent and 8.5 percent. The RBI predicted that the GDP would increase by 7.2percent, although other analysts believe that the projection may soon be revised downward.

The economic advisor said, India is prepared to continue its 7percent annual growth rate for the rest of the decade. He said,  the government is shifting from financial inclusion to financial empowerment, and the emphasis in the ten years leading up to 2030 is on assisting people in accessing financial services like credit and insurance using the foundation of the accounts opened earlier, in his remarks at the fintech event.

He said that to help the diaspora, the government is striving to build interoperability between Singapore's and the UAE's payment systems in order to reduce remittance fees to almost nil.

He claimed that the soon-to-be-introduced central bank digital currency, on which India is making progress, is "mimick[ed]" by the unified payment interface. He stated that, in terms of credit, "we are transitioning from the collateral-based system to the one where cash flows enter into essence." He added that the cash flow based lending apps must be careful not to mistreat borrowers, especially those with poor levels of financial awareness.

The prospect for cash flow-based lending as a whole is expected to be worth Rs 3 lakh crore in the next year. He added that the data protection law is necessary, adding that businesses should view profit as a way to develop rather than game the system.

He noted that India has now developed a spate of solutions after being only a consumer for many years and that the country still needs to advance with regard to the issues on the intellectual property front.
The G-20 group is really interested in learning how India partners with the private sector to create better processes, he said.

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