News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 8 years ago
Rediff.com  » Business » Fiscal deficit not a cause for concern, says Jaitley

Fiscal deficit not a cause for concern, says Jaitley

Source: PTI
October 27, 2015 14:13 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

CashThere is no cause for concern on fiscal deficit and the government will meet its target for the current fiscal despite certain challenges on the disinvestment front, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday.

He also said that all efforts would be made to persuade opposition to allow the government to pass the Goods and Services Tax in the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament.

Jaitley, speaking at an event in New Delhi, said the government is working on further easing of foreign direct investment norms by removing conditionals which may not be necessary in today's context.

On fiscal deficit, he said: "I don't think there are any concerns. . . I had consciously kept a very modest fiscal deficit target that is the movement from 4.1 per cent which eventually became 4 per cent to 3.9 per cent (in 2015-16).

“The manner in which tax revenues and expenditure are moving, I don't see there's going to be any difficulty".

Admitting that disinvestment is a challenge mainly on account of global problem, Jaitley said the ‘metal stocks are not doing particularly well, and metal was a large part of kitty that we had planned for this year. I don't think it makes sense divesting at a time when prices are low’.

Government had budgeted to raise Rs 69,500 crore (Rs 695 billion) through disinvestment in current fiscal.

Of this, Rs 41,000 crore (Rs 410 billion) was to come from minority stake sale in PSUs and another Rs 28,500 crore (Rs 285 billion) from strategic stake sale.

 

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
 

Moneywiz Live!