NEW DELHI: With the deepening slowdown hitting where it hurts the most — jobs — PM Narendra Modi on Thursday sat down with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her crack team to take stock of the situation and decide on measures to revive the country’s economy.
While officials are tight-lipped about the outcome of the meeting, a finance ministry source told TNIE, “The discussion was on the slowdown and future course of action... Some short-term measures could be announced soon.”
According to sources, the government may unleash a spending spree on infrastructure to boost growth by front-loading expenditure.
The PM’s Independence Day speech talked about Rs 100 lakh crore being invested in building modern ports, highways, railways, airports, hospitals and educational institutions over a five-year period.
In his speech, the PM also sought to reassure India Inc saying wealth creators will be respected and looked down upon.
“Let us never see wealth creators with suspicion. Only when wealth is created, wealth will be distributed,” he said.
The PM-FM huddle was also in the backdrop of Sitharaman’s meeting with captains of the industry last week, where they lobbied for a stimulus package worth Rs 1 lakh crore, besides GST cut.
On Wednesday, the finance minister had met Chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Bibek Debroy and its member Ratan P Watal to consult them on economic slowdown issues.
The slowdown, which started with the real estate sector and auto sector, has now spilt over to other areas as well, including consumer goods. The auto sector is facing its worst crisis in two decades and the industry has reported huge job losses.
Sales of consumer goods ranging from fridges and TV sets to daily-use items like toothpaste and biscuits saw a decline in volume growth in the first quarter, raising concerns for the economy.