Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 15 (ANI): Noting that the disturbances and uncertainties caused due to COVID-19 reduced private consumption expenditures, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the Central government has initiated a number of steps to deal with these challenges, adding that the results are visible.

Singh was addressing a workshop on the financial market organised by the Lucknow branch of Central India Regional Council (CIRC) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

The workshop was organised to update the participants about the new developments related to the economy and train and motivate them to deal with future challenges related to the sector.

"According to surveys of many agencies, India continues to grow as one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world. Our exports continue to set new records and are likely to increase further. A major free trade agreement has been signed with Australia and similar agreements with other partner countries as well," the minister said.

"We are witnessing a V-shaped recovery after the pandemic. Our focus on infrastructure and logistics has started to remove bottlenecks on the supply side. Contact-based services are also gaining momentum due to the success of our COVID-19 vaccination drive. This is a good sign for our economy to come back on track," he added.

He also spoke of the gross GST revenue collection which was the highest ever at Rs 1.68 lakh crore for April 2022.

Singh defined tax collection as a means of completing works of public interest and said the same revenue is reaching more than 80 crore people in the form of free food grains through 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana' during the COVID-19 situation.

He stated that new investments are being made at the global and domestic levels which are expected to ease the pressure on the supply chain.

Further, the Defence Minister commended the contribution of Chartered Accountants (CAs) in steering the commercial ecosystem of the country in the right direction, describing them as the backbone of financial management and auditing of the economy.

"Just like our Armed Forces personnel who protect the country's borders with sheer bravery and dedication, our CAs are the conscience keepers of the financial system. The CAs must ensure honesty while imparting their duties as they are the keepers of the people's trust in financial institutions," he said.

Singh was of the view that the world economy is going through a very difficult phase due to the supply chain disruptions and logistical bottlenecks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and now the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"Russia and Ukraine are important commodity producers. Russia is a major producer of food grains and hydro-carbons, while Ukraine is an important producer of wheat, etc. Therefore, the ongoing conflict has impacted the whole world. Since we import hydro-carbon and oilseeds in large quantities, their prices have affected our country. Food and fuel prices have gone up. Core inflation has also increased due to the global supply chain and other logistical bottlenecks," he added. (ANI)