U.S. To Support Reforms In India: Treasury Secretary Lew

MUMBAI: U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew Wednesday expressed his country's commitment to support growth and reforms in India and encourage greater opening of the Indian economy to U.S. firms.

"I hope we can work together to deepen capital markets to unlock domestic resources and welcome foreign investment into India, strengthen financial regulatory reform, improve our coordination on tax issues, and combat money laundering and terrorist financing," Lew said.

Marking the first high-level visit by a U.S. official after President Barack Obama's second India visit last month, Lew addressed captains of Indian industry at a roundtable organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the U.S.-India Business Council, ahead of the U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership Dialogue scheduled in New Delhi.

Giving an overview of the U.S. economy, he said that in the past five years, its private sector has created more than 11 million jobs and last year, American businesses created three million with the unemployment rate now at 5.7 percent.

Simultaneously, the GDP posted strong gains in the second and third quarters last year with private forecasters projections of above-trend economic growth to continue, Lew said.

"Our overall growth has been supported by increases in household wealth, a gradually improving housing market, a growing manufacturing sector, and a flourishing auto industry.

"The growth we are experiencing in the United States is good for India, just as growth in India is good for the United States. And, India and the United States are two important drivers of global growth," Lew said.
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