PTI New Delhi

Dismissing US President Donald Trump's "dead economy" jibe, 16th Finance Commission Chairman Arvind Panagariya on Friday said the Indian economy is growing at 7 per cent, and more than that in dollar terms.

Panagariya was speaking at the Business Today India@100 event.

"You don't grow at 7 per cent plus (if the economy is dead), and actually in dollar terms we are growing at more than 7 per cent. I don't know what the definition (of dead economy) means. May be, dead bodies do move," he said when asked if India is a dead economy.

Asked about India's trade protectionism, Panagariya said: "There may be protectionist measures... We are substantially open".

Mounting a sharp attack on India, Trump had remarked that India is a "dead economy".

"I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care," Trump had said in a social media post on July 31.

‘India should aggressively pursue FTA with EU’

India should "aggressively pursue" a free trade agreement with the European Union, besides moving ahead with land and labour market reforms and reducing regulations to accelerate its growth trajectory, Arvind Panagariya said on Friday. 

Speaking at the Business Today India@100 event, Panagariya said India faces a pivotal moment in the current geopolitical order of higher tariffs on exports and the country should now push the pedal on its reform agenda.