The government needs to urgently spur revival of the economy, by trading off higher fiscal deficit, said R Shankar Raman, CFO, L&T.

Talking about the expectations in the upcoming annual budget, Raman pointed out that the government outlined plans such as the Rs 1 lakh crore national infrastructure pipeline. “The budget will give an idea on how the government intends to go about funding this huge infra pipleline as it doesn’t have enough resources.

In this eventuality, the government is seeking to balance its fiscal deficit constraints along with economic growth. The $2.7-trillion Indian economy had faced a sharp slowdown in 2019, as consumption slowed, tax collections were lower, muted private sector investments and tight credit conditions. In this backdrop, the industry wants the Finance Minister to further loosen the purse strings and not worry about the stretched fiscal deficit position.

Driven by weak revenues, fiscal deficit in the first eight months of current fiscal stood 15 per cent above target. “There is a lot of liquidity in the global market and interest rates are very attractive,” said S N Subrahmanyan, CEO and MD.

Larger economic interest has to be considered in favour of near term fiscal slippages, added Subrahmanyan

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