JOIN USSteps to spur growth on: FM
The government on Friday said it is taking steps to revive the slowing Indian economy and expected the economic growth to pick up pace in the third and fourth quarters (October-March) of current fiscal.
“It is true that the Indian economy is challenged but we are taking a number of steps to revive that,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram said. He also expressed confidence that the government will be able to meet its fiscal deficit target despite garnering lesser revenues from the 2G spectrum auction, which fetched it less than Rs 9,500 crore.
“Our goal is to tide over this difficult period and end the year on a reasonably satisfactory note,” he said, adding that the economy was still growing at 5.5 per cent, which indeed was a slow growth compared to the earlier years, but the situation was not that alarming.
The government expected to garner Rs 40,000 crore from the auction of spectrum and another Rs 30,000 crore from disinvestment of PSU firms, but with merely four-and-a-half months remaining to the end of the fiscal year, it has not been able to reach even half-way.
Chidambaram still remained hopeful of the government’s divestment process meeting its target and next auction of spectrum, likely before March next year generating more revenues.
He said that the government would carry forward Rs 30,000-crore disinvestment programme and achieve the revised fiscal deficit target of 5.3 per cent of GDP in 2012-13. The minister said, he would endeavour to present a more balanced Budget for the next year.