Government to stick to the 3.3% fiscal deficit target in the current financial year, says Jaitely

 

New Delhi, December 15: Finance Minister Arun Jaitely has said that the ICCI in the national capital on Friday. He said that India will clock a growth rate of 7 to 8 % despite global uncertainties and will retain the tack of the world’s fastesgovernment will stick to the 3.3% fiscal deficit target in the current financial year while addressing the annual general meeting of the industry body Ft growing economy.

 

He also added that in the course of next few years India intends to overtake the UK in terms of the GDP. And on the issue of RBI autonomy he asserted that flagging issues of credit and liquidity by the government did not infringe the RBI’s autonomy.

 

“You lead policy clarity, policy Stability and directional stability which goes on for decades and also the decisive leadership which moves in that direction. That is then going to create an economy which will be fast growing with various market reforms where entrepreneurship becomes a premier.”, he added further.

 

He said the problems were pointed to the RBI as they lied within its power, domain and jurisdiction."I can't conceive how an elected sovereign government bringing to the notice and flagging the issue of credit and liquidity can in anyway infringe the autonomy," he said adding if there is a scarcity of capital in the market it has to be told to the concerned authority.

 

The RBI board under former bureaucrat Das Friday deliberated on the governance framework of the central bank and decided that the matter required further examination, the RBI said in a statement after the meeting in Mumbai.

 

On the agenda for the meeting was reconstituting or reviewing the sub-committees of the board which make regulatory decisions, in a bid to curb the RBI's unilateral decision-making powers. The RBI at present decides the regulatory and operational issues of banks and informs the board later. The RBI under former Governor Patel had placed restrictions on some weak banks from lending and kept a tight leash on liquidity.