FM Nirmala Sitharaman Meets Economists Ahead of Budget

New Delhi: Ahead of the full budget 2024-25, Union minister for finance & corporate affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met leading economists as well as experts of the financial and capital markets sector. During the meeting, chaired by the finance minister, several key issues were discussed with all the stakeholders, including the country's fiscal deficit, job growth, manufacturing growth and tax reforms among others in connection with the forthcoming Union Budget to be presented in Parliament next month.

During the meeting, economists stressed on the importance of further reducing the fiscal deficit in the upcoming budget, while experts in the financial sector urged a case for tax sops in the upcoming FY25 Budget for deepening of the market. After the meeting, the economists and all experts in the different sectors stressed job growth in the country with the government’s people-friendly policies, which will boost employment growth.

However, the finance ministry said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that this was the second pre-budget consultation, which was attended by leading experts of the financial and capital markets sector in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2024-25. Besides, several top officials in the finance and corporate affairs ministry, including finance secretary and the secretaries of the departments of economic affairs, revenue, financial services, and corporate affairs, as well as the chief economic adviser of India also attended the meeting.

Emerging from an over two-hour long meeting with the finance minister, Arun Kohli, MD & Country Head, Morgan Stanley India Company, said tax policies need to be stable and long-term oriented. Participants also made their point on capital gains tax and securities transaction tax.

According to George Alexander Muthoot, MD of Muthoot Group, some of the players pitched for deepening the market and providing some tax incentives. “We've suggested that since NBFC credit has grown and RBI has flagged over-dependence on banks, allocation of funds from SIDBI and NABARD could increase for refinancing of NBFCs,” Raman Aggarwal, Director FIDC said.

Non-banking financial companies or NBFCs also sought clarity on GST demand on co-lending and payment of GST on service fee, Agarwal said. “Asset management companies discussed issues related to GIFT CITY also and the ways to retain capital within the country,” he added.