Sitharaman takes ‘Naraz Foofa’ swipe at critics of India’s growth

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday accused critics of India’s growth prospects of relying on “vibecasting” rather than numbers, arguing that the country’s young population was already delivering a demographic dividend through entrepreneurship and technology.

Addressing the valedictory session of the Global Fintech Fest, Sitharaman described such commentators as “Naraz Foofa Jis”, taking aim at television debates over whether India’s demographic advantage had faded or become a burden.

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“There is a persistent habit among some commentators to view India’s demographic expansion through a lens of perpetual pessimism,” she said.

Sitharaman argued that these assessments applied outdated yardsticks to a changing economy and overlooked what young Indians were building.

“But while they remain stuck waiting for yesterday’s answers, the young minds of this country have simply bypassed their cynicism and gone ahead and built it,” she said.

Pointing to participants at the fintech gathering, she described them as the “living reality” of India’s demographic dividend.

The younger generation was already writing code, building enterprises and demonstrating its productivity without waiting for validation through traditional measures, she said.

AI brings gains and security risks

Turning to financial technology, Sitharaman said artificial intelligence presented both opportunities and threats, improving fraud detection while enabling attackers to mount more sophisticated cyberattacks at scale.

“It helps us spot fraud faster, but it also allows attackers to automate larger, more sophisticated cyberattacks,” she said.

She also called for security and encryption systems to be upgraded ahead of advances in quantum computing that could render existing defences obsolete.

Faster systems need effective safeguards

Sitharaman said innovation should improve efficiency without introducing new vulnerabilities into the financial system.

“Our goal should be neither to block innovation out of fear nor to let speed compromise safety,” she said.

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She called for a distinction between unnecessary operational hurdles and essential protections, including built-in checks, human oversight and circuit breakers.

“It is our responsibility to build the right guardrails so that greater speed also builds greater trust,” Sitharaman said, adding that sound institutional design should make efficiency and safety reinforce each other.

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