“We are hoping this is one of the indications to show and provide confidence to the markets that the government is listening, and our borrowing calendar is one step in that direction,” Thakur said, in the context of the government’s October-March market borrowing plan.
She reiterated that the Centre remains confident of meeting its fiscal deficit target of 4.4% for the current financial year and “GST receipts are quite buoyant and give us confidence,” she added, underlining the fiscal strength provided by robust indirect tax inflows.
On growth, Thakur noted that while the second quarter growth could see “a slight tempering down,” the government expects momentum to pick up in the coming quarters.
Thakur’s observations on growth and fisc echo what the Chief Economic Advisor Anantha Nageswaran told CNBC-TV18 this week, that he expects growth to be at the “upper end “ of the 6.3% to 6.8% estimate given for this fiscal.
The CEA also said he is confident the GST 2.0 will add significantly to the GDP and expects Q2 growth closer to 7% versus the 7.8% clocked in Q1.
While the Chairman to the Economic Advisory Council, Dr Mahendra Dev, had told CNBC-TV18 last week that for the full fiscal year, the economy should expand by not lower than 6.5%.
In the next 6 months, apart from the GST reforms, there will be a capex pick up, and with the income tax cut and expected monetary easing, all these factors in the second half will have a much higher growth impact, Dr Dev explained.
(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
