India considering Rs 500 billion stimulus spending in 2017-18: govt sources

The government is looking for ways to lift economic growth, which slipped to a three-year low of 5.7 percent in the quarter to end-June.

The government is considering a plan to loosen the fiscal deficit target so that it could spend an additional Rs 500 billion ($7.7 billion) in the financial year ending in March 2018, two government sources said on Thursday.

A customer hands over cash to a merchant at a wholesale trading shop in Bengaluru. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 5.7% in the last quarter, undershooting market expectations, compared to 6.1% in January-March period. (AFP File Photo)

Both the officials declined to be named as the plan, aimed at reviving economic growth, is still to be made public.

On Wednesday, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the government was looking for ways to lift economic growth, which slipped to a three-year low of 5.7% in the quarter to end-June.