With $590 Bn forex reserves in kitty,India now "net creditor"- MoS Thakur

India now has forex reserves ofover USD 590 billion, the highest ever, up by USD 119 billionover the previous year, while the external debt is USD 554billion, making the country a ''net creditor'', Minister ofState for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said here on Saturday.

Speaking to media persons he said the country iswitnessing a 'V' shaped recovery post COVID-19 pandemic, whichis evident by the GST collection during the past four months.

''If you see Indias forex reserves, India has forexreserves more than USD 590 billion, which is the highestever.

And it is up by USD 119 billion from the previous year.

And if you look at the external debt, it is only USD 554billion.

So considering the forex reserves, India is now a netcreditor,'' the minister said.

He said the GST collections indicate that the economy isin recovery as the Government has taken the right steps savinglives and the economy as well.

The Minister said India received the highest ForeignDirect Investments even during COVID-19 times due to ''decisiveleadership.'' ''India is standing back on its feet.

The economy is witnessing a V shaped recovery and that iswhy in the last four months we have seenGST collection ofmore than one lakh rupees per month.

And in the month of January the total collection wasclose to Rs 1.20 lakh crore, he told reporters in a pressconference.

On the recent Union Budget, Thakur said that except theopposition parties, all sections of people had appreciated it.

Thakur said the budget estimates for the current fiscalwas Rs 30.42 lakh crore, while it was increased by over Rsfour lakh crore to Rs 34.50 lakh crore for the next fiscal.

He hoped that India would become a USD five trillioneconomy in the next four or five years.

Describing the budget as a ''transparent one'', theminister explained the salient features of it.

On the disinvestment proposal of Rashtriya Ispat NigamLimited (RINL) which owns steel plant in Visakhapatnam, Thakursaid the Centre will decide on divesting stakes of PublicSector Enterprises from time to time, based on NITI Aayogsrecommendations.

He said many companies have grown post-disinvestment andthe Centre will try to talk to the RINL stakeholders.