NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister’s Office has initiated the financial and performance review of various ministries and their flagship schemes, in the backdrop of the ongoing economic slowdown that threatens to cut expenditure on major social schemes.
“All the ministries are expected to give their report cards before Union Budget 2020-21. This isn’t anything new, only a routine exercise. However, this year, it is especially important as the report card has asked the ministries to plug unnecessary expenditures. They were told to prioritise schemes on the basis of expenditure, as suggested by the Union Finance Ministry,” a senior official said.
As reported earlier, various Central ministries and departments will brief their plans as well as agenda for the next five years. They will detail about the work so far and will suggest on how get the economy back to track.
India’s GDP growth fell to 4.5 per cent during the July-September quarter. While the Finance Ministry had assured that the economy will revive from the second half of this fiscal, economists had warned that recovery will be slower.
“The challenges are multiple. There is slow collection of revenue, divestment is not on the lines expected by the government, and fiscal slippage seems inevitable. On the other hand, with high debt, there is not enough headroom for being generous with expenditure. State finances are another soft spot. On this context, the Budget exercise had to be more comprehensive and focused,” said a senior member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council.