FINANCE MINISTERS 10 POINT PROGRAMME

Replying to a debate in Parliament about the state of the Indian economy, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today listed out 10 points which he said the go ernment should ta!e in order to get the economy bac! on trac!. "hile he as!ed the go ernment to speed up in estment, encourage manufacturing and boost e#ports, he also lamented that Parliament had to run to the $upreme Court or the $upreme Court%appointed benches.

1.Controlling fiscal deficit& 'he first tas! at hand is to control fiscal deficit
% at (.) per cent, the Finance Minister said. *e said that while the fiscal deficit was not in control when he too! o er and was threatening to go beyond + per cent e en though the ,udget said -.1 per cent, he has managed to !eep it in control. *e added that the best way to control the deficit was to cut down on e#penditure.

. Controlling c!rrent acco!nt deficit& Financing the current account

deficit has become a ma.or challenge, Mr. Chidambaram said. *e said the go ernment will contain the deficit it at /00 billion or below, and will safely finance it.

". Adding to t#e reser$es& "hile the reser es are ade1uate, it is

important to add to it, he said. "e must use F2Is, 3RI in estments, ban!ing capital and 4C,s, the minister added.

%.Re$i$ing t#e in$est&ent c'cle& It is important to unbloc! the stalled

pro.ects, and ensure 1uic!er disbursal of funds where pro.ects ha e been appro ed. 'he Cabinet Committee on In estment has so far cleared 105 pro.ects with an in estment of . 1,65,)0+ crore.

(.)!ic*en t#e ca+e, +rogra&&e of PS-s& Public sector enterprises are

sitting on large 1uantities of cash and it is important to 1uic!en the capital e#penditure programme, said Mr. Chidambaram. 4 en the performance rating of the top management will be lin!ed to it, he added.

.. Ca+italise t#e +!/lic sector /an*s& "hile the public sector ban!s are
well capitali7ed and are well abo e the ,asel III norms, it is important to

pump in more capital in them to boost in estor confidence, Mr. Chidambaram said. *e said . 1(,000 crore will be in ested in the P$8 ban!s, adding that e ery rupee that is gained out of the disin estment in Coal India 9td will be used to capitali7e public sector ban!s.

0. Rea+ t#e /enefit of t#e good &onsoon& 3othing must be done that
will come in the way of ma#imi7ing agricultural production, and therefore, the gas allocation to fertili7er sector will be maintained and not a single unit of gas will be reduced, the minister said. 'his will ensure that the ma#imum amount of fertili7er is pro ided to farmers all through the year. ,an!s, too, ha e been instructed to pro ide as much loan as the farmers re1uire, he added.

1.Enco!rage &an!fact!ring& Mr. Chidambaram said manufacturing has

been allowed to languish in the country, and gi en India:s si7e it was important that the sector is re i ed. *e said the imposition of customs duty on high%end flat screen ';s was not capital control, but a way of encouraging manufacturing in the country. Manufacturing must be encouraged in power, steel, metal, automobiles, electronic hardware and te#tiles, he said, adding that India was currently importing items that could easily be manufactured in the country.

2.Enco!rage e,+orts& 8nless e#ports are increased, the current account

deficit cannot be reduced. 4#ports ha e risen 11.0 per cent in <uly =015 o er the pre ious year. 'rade deficit has narrowed to /1=.5 billion in each of these months. $er ices e#ports ha e increased e ery month since >pril =015. 'herefore, some of the measures are beginning to bear fruit.

10.Resol$e i&+asse in coal3 iron sector4 Issues o er the en ironmental

and land clearances that ha e come up due to .udicial inter entions should be in1uired into, but new bloc!s should continue to be auctioned.