Nirmala Sitharaman becomes India’s First Woman Finance Minister

India’s former defence minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has been appointed India’s finance minister, tasked with reviving the faltering economy as Narendra Modi starts his second term as prime minister following a landslide election victory.

Ms Sitharaman, who also served for a time as commerce minister in Mr Modi’s first term, succeeds Arun Jaitley, the corporate lawyer who bowed out from a cabinet role due to health problems.

She takes charge of economic policy at a time of slowing growth, with challenges ranging from weak exports and tepid private investment to a rural income squeeze. Growth of India’s gross domestic product between October and December slowed to 6.6 per cent. Data due to be released on Friday is expected to show that growth decelerated further in the first quarter of this year.

The announcement of India’s first female finance minister since Indira Gandhi held the post comes a day after Mr Modi was sworn in to start his second term alongside new government ministers in a ceremony on the steps of India’s presidential palace.

The event marked the end of an election in which India’s young, aspirational population placed its overwhelming confidence in Mr Modi as the leader able to modernise India.

Tweeting hours after the ceremony, Mr Modi described his new team as a “blend of youthful energy and administrative experience”.

The new cabinet includes Amit Shah, president of the Bharatiya Janata party and architect of Mr Modi’s landslide re-election victory, who was appointed home minister, in charge of law enforcement and internal security. Mr Shah, who becomes a central government minister for the first time, has long been one of the prime minister’s most influential advisers and is seen as his right-hand man.

Veteran diplomat S. Jaishankar, a former Indian ambassador to both the US and China, will serve as external affairs minister, highlighting Mr Modi’s desire for professional expertise given his emphasis on international relations in his second term. Mr Jaishankar served as foreign secretary under Mr Modi for three years, and is known to enjoy the prime minister’s confidence.

Rajnath Singh will serve as minister of defence.

Smriti Irani, the former soap opera star who defeated opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in his family’s longtime constituency in Uttar Pradesh, was rewarded with a cabinet position as textiles minister and minister of women and child development.

But it is Ms Sitharaman that Mr Modi has entrusted with the most critical task of revving up the economy at a time when popular expectations are running high, and rising trade tensions between the US and China are injecting new uncertainty into the economy.

Ms Sitharaman, who is a member of India’s upper house of parliament and from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, has also served as the minister of state for finance and corporate affairs.

She studied economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University and worked as a research executive at PwC, the professional services firm, in London before returning to India in 1991.

She joined the BJP in 2006 and became one of its most articulate spokespersons. She is seen as diligent and reliable, and enjoys the complete trust of her party leaders.

---

Source: FT

Image Courtesy:LiveMint

---