NEW DELHI: US President
Joe Biden
on Wednesday said that India, China, Russia and
Japan
are struggling on the economic front because “they’re xenophobic”, and “don’t want immigrants”.
“Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having trouble, why is Russia, why is India, because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong,” Biden said.
Speaking at a fundraising event in Washington for 2024 re-election, Biden attributed immigration as the reason behind US’s
economic growth
, Reuters reported.
“One of the reasons why our economy’s growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” he said.
The International Monetary Fund estimated last month that each country’s growth rate will slow down in 2024 compared to the previous year, ranging from 0.9% in highly established Japan to 6.8% in growing India.
They predict that the United States will grow at 2.7%, slightly faster than the 2.5% rate last year. Many analysts attribute the country’s better-than-expected performance in part to migrants who have expanded its labor force.
This comes days after Biden had called China “xenophobic” while highlighting the Asian nation’s economic woes, as he sought to make the case for US economic strength during a campaign stop in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
