Pranab works on paper to revive economy

The new United Progressive Alliance government will prepare an approach paper to address the key issues of the economy against the backdrop of the global economic slowdown.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is preparing this paper in consultation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The paper will deal with issues like employment generation, exports, growth, and the current slowdown in the manufacturing sector.

"This will be the foundation of our government's approach on how to tackle the slowdown," Mukherjee told Business Standard.

According to sources, this paper will be the guiding light for the prime minister's 100-day plan to revive the economy.

Mukherjee also said that the new government would try to pass its first general Budget within July.

"We hope to pass the Budget in time to avoid uncertainties," Mukherjee told Business Standard after the formal notification of his appointment as finance minister.

Mukherjee also made it clear that the focus of the Budget would be to bring back the economy on the "growth path" after it suffered the effects of the slowdown.