India needs to keep its fiscal deficit target: Gita Gopinath

23 Dec 2019 Evaluate

Expressing cautiousness over India’s fiscal condition, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath has said the country needs to keep its fiscal deficit target, which would require expenditure rationalisation and increased revenue mobilisation. She said that in the past few quarters, there has been a steep slowdown in private sector demand and there is now weakness in investment. She highlighted that if there is a prolonged weakness in investment, it will affect potential growth.

For India, she said macro stability is very important, which means stability on the fiscal front. A clear sense of keeping to the target of fiscal consolidation is very important. That would require increasing revenue mobilisation and also rationalising expenditure. She further said that ‘when we talk about fiscal consolidation, we think of it as a medium-term target which is something that has to be addressed over a period of time and not necessarily overnight’.

Gopinath also said India’s consolidated deficit (the Centre and states combined) is the highest among the G20 nations. She added that ‘so, it’s not a free lunch and this has be very carefully managed’ and it is also important for India to undertake reforms. But, to be able to do this, some clarity, greater clarity and greater certainty would help, she said adding that this is also applied to big reforms like the goods and services tax (GST). On increasing share of the manufacturing sector, she said another set of big reforms are required to get manufacturing on the ground and for India to have bigger presence on the export front.

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