NEW DELHI: It is imperative to keep the sentiments of the nation high in order to have a good economic growth, former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha said on Saturday.
Participating in a virtual session at the Indian Student Parliament, Sinha also said that a modern economy runs on sentiments, which govern consumption and determine demands.
"It is not unusual for the economy to rise or fall. In a globally entwined economy, we cannot divorce ourselves from the global factors. We need to keep non-economic extraneous factors in the record as well," he said.
"The modern economy also runs on sentiments as sentiments govern consumption and determine demands. So, if society's sentiments are down, consumption decreases which affects the economy negatively," Sinha, who is the vice president of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), said.
He noted that sentiments of people and economy go "hand in hand".
Sinha also said petroleum products are "milch cows" for the Centre and the states and these must be included in the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Replying to a query about the inclusion of petroleum products in the ambit of the indirect tax regime, he said, "We can't have a complete GST without petroleum products in it. It must happen and this will finally benefit the consumers."
CEO and MD of the Bombay Stock Exchange Ashish Kumar Chauhan and BJD MLA Souvic Biswal were also present.
"Any country or society becomes prosperous or developed by creating new technology and not by sticking to old thought processes. We can only be world leaders by being materially successful and not by spiritual success. This fast-moving wave of technology will take us towards further development," said Chauhan.