E-Paper
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to announce sector-specific initiatives to boost growth
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is tentatively scheduled to address a news conference to outline fresh measures for growth, said a government official privy to the plans, requesting anonymity.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to announce the second tranche of initiatives to revive growth and uplift consumer sentiment. Sitharaman had announced the first set last month and promised to be back with another round of initiatives to address sector-specific solutions and targets.
The Nirmala Sitharaman-led finance ministry has been working on steps to boost growth in the real estate sector, a major job creating industry, which has been grappling with record unsold inventory and poor sales, according to Livemint.
At her news conference last month, Sitharaman had assured that the government was discussing steps to resolve the realty sector problems in the National Capital Region as well as cities such as Mumbai too.
WATCH | India fastest growing economy; will boost consumption: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
An analysis by realty consultant Anarock last month found there were 1.82 lakh unsold housing units in the entire NCR in the second quarter of this calendar year. Gurugram had 56,550 units (31% share), the highest in the region, followed closely by Greater Noida 50,800 unsold units (28% share) and Ghaziabad (17%).
Over the last few weeks, the Nirmala Sitharaman has sought to address concerns over infrastructure spending, improved access to credit for businesses, more capital for state-run banks, boosting the prospects of the auto sector; and improving credit flow.
The measures come against the backdrop of the economy reporting its weakest growth in more than six years at 5% in the June quarter. The Reserve Bank of India has projected gross domestic product to expand 6.9% in 2019-20 amid adverse external headwinds such as the US-China trade war and fears of a global recession.
The economic downturn has become a sticky political issue ahead of assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand. Former prime minister and senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh has criticised the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for what he called the “man-made blunders of demonetization and a hastily implemented GST”.
India’s economy reported its weakest growth in more than six years at 5% in the June quarter.
The Reserve Bank of India has projected gross domestic product to expand 6.9% in 2019-20, while most analysts and financial institutions have estimated 6.5-7% growth.
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had, this week, asked the government to accept that the country is facing an economic crisis. He had linked the slowdown to structural and cyclic reasons but singled out what he described as the government’s “demonetisation debacle and faulty implementation of the Goods and Services Tax” as two key contributors.
