The FM further said that, as far as concerns regarding the International Monetary Fund’s report enumerating the debt-to-GDP ratio is concerned, it must be taken into context. “This is what has been enumerated for an ‘extreme worst-case scenario’, and is not fait accompli,” she said.
She added that Centre’s measures towards debt structuring and core debt would keep the situation under control.
She further explained to the house that even for advanced countries, debt to GDP also stands at 100 per cent and held that the government’s external debt is “Na ke barabar” (almost non-existing).
Talking about the state of employment in the country, Sitharaman said that the unemployment rate fell from 6 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.2 per cent in 2022-23, citing official data. She added that the representation of youth in the labour force has increased from 38.2 per cent to 45.5 per cent – showing a 6.3 per cent growth in absolute figures.
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