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Economy revival measures from today

NEW DELHI: Beginning Saturday, the government will announce a series of measures to revive the economy, which has been reeling under the impact of a global economic slowdown, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said here on Friday.

“It will not be a single package. There will be a first package, second and third part of it,” Mr. Nath told journalists without giving any further details of the relief measures.

India Inc. has been eagerly awaiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s stimulus package along with Reserve Bank of India’s rate cuts to reverse the slowdown of the economy.

Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai also did not give any details about the package prepared by the Committee of Secretaries in consultation with RBI. “Let the Prime Minister announce it tomorrow [Saturday],” he said.

The Prime Minister holds the charge of Finance after P. Chidambaram was made the Home Minister early this week.

On December 2, Dr. Singh discussed the stimulus package with the apex committee on economic crisis. The package was subsequently fine-tuned at a meeting of Secretaries of Finance and Commerce held by Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar. The meeting was also attended by RBI Governor D. Subbarao and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Earlier this week, the Commerce Secretary had said the government could announce a Rs.15,000-crore budgetary support to infrastructure projects and sops worth Rs.2,000 crore for the recession-hit export sector.

The government might also give some relief to the flagging automobile sector that has seen its sales fall steeply by announcing some cut in excise duty. Similarly, RBI’s cut in short-lending term rates could see loans getting cheaper to revive the automobile and real estate sectors.

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