EPFO Industry workers DGP
EPFO Industry workers DGPReuters file

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Monday that the country should continue with its economic reforms agenda to lead global growth, an opportunity it often missed in the past.

"India has missed many chances in (the) past, it's important for India to continue its pace of reforms. If India aspires to be a global leader as far as economy is concerned, government has primary responsibility in terms of policy and public opinions," ANI tweeted Jaitley as saying at the inaugural function of the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) annual session.

He also spoke about the country's macroeconomic indicators and measures taken by the BJP-led NDA government to boost growth.

"Government has stuck to the fiscal commitment and inflation has been under control. The taxation reforms which we have undertaken, I think its an imp agenda for next 2-3 years and this reasonable taxation will have growth, " the agency tweeted, referring to his address. 

Jaitley used the opportunity to urge the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates, referring to the fiscal deficit and retail inflation at manageable levels. "I do hope that this movement will continue in order to make our economy more competitive with more competitive interest rates," he said, PTI reported. 

Lamenting that some political groups clamour for high interest rates, Jaitley said: "Take for instance responsible political groups taking a position to support high interest rates for something which is absolutely capable of making us a sluggish economy." 

The two-day event is likely to be addressed by other ministers and senior bureaucrats of the government, including Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya.

The RBI is slated to meet Tuesday for its first bi-monthly monetary policy review meeting.