The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Indian economy is fundamentally strong and forward looking. He elaborated the reforms under way and the commitment of the Government to accelerate growth while adhering to the path of fiscal discipline. The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley was speaking during his meeting with Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) here. During the meeting, issues relating to the Indian and the global economy, key priorities of Government of India as well as issues relating to the IMF quota and governance reforms were discussed.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley further said that IMF has a crucial role to play in calming economic agents and financial markets to minimize the volatility in international financial markets. He called for early implementations of the 2010 IMF Quota and Governance Reforms.

The Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley and Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to jointly host a high level conference on “Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future” in March, 2016 in India. The conference would showcase that the Asia-Pacific region has rebounded quickly from the global financial crisis of 2008 and India, and several other countries in the region, have grown rapidly. This would be for the First time that such a Conference is being held in India.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, IMF said that India is among the few major economies with a strong growth outlook. She said that growth in India has picked up, even as the world economy is faced with subdued demand conditions, particularly in Europe and Japan, and recent slowdown in China. IMF estimates that GDP growth in India this fiscal will be 7.2 to 7.4 per cent.

Ms. Lagarde is on a visit to India from March 14-18, 2015. This is her second visit to India as Managing Director, International Monetary Fund(IMF). Earlier during the day, Ms. Lagarde made a courtesy call on the President of India and had a meeting with the Prime Minister.

IMF governance reforms endorsed as India's strong growth outlook highlighted and a joint Asia investment conference announced. The Finance Minister affirmed India's fundamentally strong economy and commitment to reforms and fiscal discipline, and urged early implementation of the 2010 IMF quota and governance reforms to strengthen IMF legitimacy and stabilise international markets. Both India and the IMF agreed to co host a high level conference 'Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future' in March 2016 to highlight regional recovery and investment prospects, while the IMF described India as having a strong near term growth outlook despite subdued global demand.