FM to meet auto, NBFC, realty chiefs

Series of meetings planned from today to discuss measures to bolster growth

August 05, 2019 10:23 pm | Updated 10:55 pm IST - New Delhi

Nirmala Sitharaman.

Nirmala Sitharaman.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold separate meetings with representatives of various sectors over the course of the week, following which the government will decide on the steps needed to bolster the economy, Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said on Monday.

The Minister held a review meeting with the heads of public sector banks (PSBs) on Monday.

This will be followed by a meeting with representatives of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) on Tuesday, automobile sector on Wednesday, financial services sector on Thursday, and the real estate sector on August 11.

“We are getting inputs from various sectors and trying to respond so that confidence of those sectors is restored,” Ms. Sitharaman said in response to a question on whether she found the current economic environment worrying

Speaking to reporters following a meeting with the heads of PSBs, Ms. Sitharaman said that the government would decide on the way forward on the service tax demand from the banks after they replied to the notices sent to them.

Reply to notices

“Today in the meeting, where SBI chairman and Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India were also present, we have asked the banks to reply to the notices issued by the tax authorities,” the Finance Minister said.

“They have agreed to this. Once the reply reaches us, the Revenue Secretary can take a look and we can take a call from there.”

The income tax department had issued notices to the banks to pay service tax amounting to a total of ₹38,000 crore on the penalties they imposed on customers for low balances in their accounts.

The banks had disputed this and approached the Delhi High Court for redressal.

Regarding the concerns of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), she said Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty would soon hold a meeting with the FPIs.

Ms. Sitharaman also said that the government had not taken any further steps regarding the issuance of overseas sovereign bonds.

“There are some numbers floating around because the Secretary has said ‘this is the quantum,’ but not much more work has happened because we have been busy in the Ministry with the various Bills that have been passed,” the Finance Minister said.

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