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Speaking at an event, organised by the Federation of
Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Mukherjee
said, “At the
national
level, there is a certain amount of convergence but this
is yet to be reflected at the State-level. Even after
the meeting with the Empowered
Group of State Finance Ministers, we are yet to reach
consensus. However, we are working hard towards sticking
to the target date of April 2010 to implement the GST.”
Optimistic
He added that the Direct Tax Bill will be introduced in
Parliament during the Winter Session and hopes to
implement the Direct Tax Code in its full form by 2011.
The Minister was also confident that despite the
deficient monsoons, the economy will register a
reasonable growth of six per cent plus for 2009-10.
Responding to a question from the floor, Mr Mukherjee
said that for the year 2010-11, the economy can register
a growth of eight per cent if there are no “further
adverse situations” such as the drought this year.
“India is still an attractive destination for foreign
investment. Based on the FDI and FII figures even during
this period of depression, I would say that achieving
the target of eight per cent growth
in 2010-11 is possible,” he added.
Fiscal
deficit
The Minister also stressed upon his plans to bring down
fiscal deficit to four per cent of
the GDP from its current levels of 6.8 per cent by 2011.
“The current level of fiscal deficit is not sustainable.
The global meltdown made it necessary for a temporary
deviation from the path of fiscal consolidation in order
to provide fiscal stimulus. But we have to come back to
the path of fiscal consolidation,” said Mr Mukherjee.
Speaking about the impact of drought, Mr Mukherjee urged
people not to push the panic button as yet.
He said that as of April 2010, the wheat stock in the
country would be 17.7 million tonnes while rice stocks
in October 2009 would be 13.7 million tonnes.
The Minister also said that incentives have been given
by the Government for short duration crops and early
sowing for rabi crops in order to mitigate the 15-20 per
cent shortfall in kharif crop output this year.
Source
: The Hindu BusinessLine, India, dated 28/08/2009
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