The Government is confident of meeting the fiscal deficit target of 5.3 per cent in the current fiscal and the steps to boost investments have already started showing green shoots of revival, a top Finance Ministry official said today.
“5.3 per cent is the fiscal deficit target for this year. And 5.3 per cent it shall be,” Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said.
The Government had originally fixed the fiscal deficit target at 5.1 per cent in the current fiscal. But tight finances due to increased expenditure has led to revising the deficit number higher to 5.3 per cent.
Mayaram said the challenge now is to find ways to rapidly integrate with the global world.
“There are several decisions that the Government has been taking which have led to the green shoots that we are seeing now, (and) that is yet to be built upon,” Mayaram said at the ‘Delhi Economic Conclave’ here.
The Cabinet yesterday cleared setting up of a Cabinet Committee on Investment for providing expeditious clearances to major projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore. It has also cleared the Land Acquisition Bill.
“With the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Investment, we are very confident that this is something that will create tremendous energy for investment in the coming months and years.
“The Land Acquisition Bill also has been approved and this will provide much greater predictability to investors in taking investment decisions into the country. The decision to resort to direct cash transfer of subsidies will also show encouraging results in future,” Mayaram said.
He said reforms are a continuous process and that the Government would work towards promoting growth, pushing up margins and generating employment.
In the past months the Government has taken reform measures such as allowing FDI in multibrand retail and in the aviation sector, to revive growth.
“We have touched high growth rates of 9.5 per cent and today we are making efforts to come back beyond 6 per cent in the current fiscal with great difficulty. Obviously, the global economy has taken a turn, which requires some serious thinking,” Mayaram said.
Economic growth fell to a nine-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12. In the first half of the current fiscal, growth was at 5.4 per cent, against 7.3 per cent in the corresponding period last year.