FinMin Jaitley to chair pre-Budget meet today

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will chair a pre-Budget consultation meeting with financial sector regulators on Friday, and take stock of the economic situation. Fiscal position, external sector environment, financial sector reforms, rising non-performing assets (NPAs) and regulatory issues are likely to figure in the meeting, sources told PTI. The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) is a highpowered body, whose members include the RBI Governor, the SEBI Chairman, the IRDAI Chief and the heads of other regulatory bodies. Besides, top Finance Ministry officials will also be attending Friday’s meeting. Apart from offering proposals for the Union Budget 2018 -19, the FSDC will also review the measures taken by the government and the RBI for dealing with stressed assets and the initiation of insolvency action against defaulting promoters. The government on Thursday intro- duced, in the Lok Sabha, a bill to make amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to make resolution processes easier for ailing firms. Tightening rules to prevent errant founders from misusing the 11-month-old bankruptcy law, to regain control, the government earlier this month barred promoters whose borrowings have been classified as non-performing for a year or more and that are unable to pay overdue amounts, including interest and other charges.

Reversing five quarters of slowing growth, the Indian economy expanded by 6.3 per cent in the July-September quarter on the back of a pick-up in manufacturing. The nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth had hit a three-year low of 5.7 per cent in the first-quarter of 2017-18. It was 7.5 per cent in the September quarter of 2016-17. The Finance Ministry, on Wednesday, said the government will borrow an additional Rs 50,000 crore from G-Secs.