Singapore minister says India needs higher economic growth to create jobs

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam speaks with journalists at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2017 meeting in Durban

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India needs to achieve higher economic growth by focusing on exports and expanding production-linked incentives for more sectors to create more jobs, Singapore's minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Friday.

"India needs much higher growth and much deeper inclusivity ... India must grow by at least 8% to 10% over the next 25 years," Shanmugaratnam, minister in charge of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said while delivering a lecture in memory of Arun Jaitley, India's former finance minister.

He said higher economic growth was the only way to lift average incomes and create jobs for the country's large young population.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Catherine Evans)