Singalling readiness to put its finances on track,the Union government on Thursday hinted at reducing its borrowings.
The government had announced its intent to raise around R5.69 lakh crore during the current fiscal. Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the RBI board meet on Thursday, R Gopalan, economic affairs secretary, said, “We are trying to reduce the borrowing; we still think that there is some scope for reduction”.
Earlier, there were reports that the finance ministry was contemplating reducing the borrowing by around R90 billion in the April-September period.
On foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, he said that the decision has to be borne out of the political leadership.
Gopalan said the government was waiting for the right political atmosphere to take FDI in retail forward. “We are closely watching the situation and waiting for the right political atmosphere.” The government will take a decision on allowing FDI in retail sector at the right time as it is seized of the issue. He, however, did not give any time-frame, saying the political process will take care of that.
?There is always a right time to take these kind of decisions and government is seized of this issue and, therefore, I think, it is too early for me to say when the decision will be announced,” he added.
RBI reviews situation
The central board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which met here on Thursday, reviewed key economic, monetary and financial developments.
RBI governor D Subbarao chaired the board meeting.
Anil Kakodkar, Kiran Karnik, Rajeev Gowda, YH Malegam, Dipankar Gupta, G M Rao, Ela Bhatt and Indira Rajaraman, besides government nominee director on the central board R Gopalan, secretary, department of economic affairs, attended the meeting.
The deputy governors of the RBI, KC Chakrabarty, Subir Gokarn, Anand Sinha and H R Khan, were also present. Emerging from the board meet, Subbarao refused to comment.
The central board of directors of the RBI meets at least once every quarter.