FM Arun Jaitley asks IFS officers to tap strength of Indian diaspora

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today asked the newly-appointed foreign mission heads to utilise the services of huge Indian diaspora with a view to pushing the country's growth prospects.

Addressing 22 heads of missions here, he said the number of Indian diaspora across the world has increased substantially and the onus is on IFS officials to make use of their services for benefit of the country.

" India has two plus points. We are doing well among all other major economies in the world. Also, the size of Indian diaspora has increased in almost every country and is now in a position to (have an) impact," he said.

He asked the officers to "optimally utilise" these advantages during their tenure.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a robust 7.6 per cent growth for India in 2016 and 2017.

India remains among the fastest growing major economies of the world as IMF has projected 6.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent GDP growth rate for China for 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Global growth is projected to slow to 3.1 per cent in 2016 before recovering to 3.4 per cent in 2017.