Centre to deliberate on key economic issues next week
While the government will brainstorm on the future course of action on these issues, the primary focus of participants will be how to effectively present the government’s rationale behind any decision
Published: 08th September 2018 03:56 AM | Last Updated: 08th September 2018 03:56 AM | A+A A-
Image used for representational purpose only. (File Photo | Reuters)
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is planning to convene a meeting of subject matter experts next week to discuss key economic matters of immediate concern, including oil price rise and depreciation of rupee, before general elections.
While the government will brainstorm on the future course of action on these issues, the primary focus of participants will be how to effectively present the government’s rationale behind any decision taken.
The meeting is expected to be attended by top officials of PMO, Economic Advisory Council and NITI Aayog, along with some ministers, who are part of the government's core committee.
According to an official in the know of things, the government feels that while a lot is being done at the policy level, it is not being communicated well on ground. This will also be an important purpose of the meeting, he said. “There are two aspects to the government’s decisions — one at the policy level and another at mass level.
While the government has done well on the policy level, which was reflected in the GDP growth number, there has been negative perceptions on economy rising in the last one month. One reason is that there are so many conflicting voices,” the official said, citing demonetisation as an instance. The conflicting arguments on note ban were exploited by Opposition to their advantage, which is a matter of concern for the government, especially in the election year, the official said.
According to him, the government also feels that its officials and party members are not being able to explain the rupee fall and rising fuel prices properly. “The meeting is aimed at coming up with a uniform stand on key economic issues. The government will assign the task to selected individuals who can handle it efficiently,” he explained.
Steepest fuel rate hike
Petrol and diesel price were on Friday hiked by about 50 paisa per litre each, the steepest increase in rates since daily price revision came into effect over 14 months agol. Petrol price was hiked by 48 paisa per litre and diesel by 47 a litre. A litre of petrol now costs I79.99 and diesel is priced at I72.07 a litre in Delhi.
