(LiveMint)
Finance minister Arun Jaitley and his colleagues on Tuesday took stock of the economy and discussed specific efforts to revive growth that has decelerated to the slowest pace in three years. The finance ministry will hold more inter-ministerial consultations and finalize a package of measures aimed at stimulating economic growth, officials present at the meeting said on condition of anonymity. A presentation will then be made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will take the final call, these officials said.
Tuesday’s meeting was attended by railway minister Piyush Goyal, commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu and the secretaries of the finance, and commerce and industry ministries. The railway board chairman and representatives from the prime minister’s office and NITI Aayog, the government policy think tank, were also in attendance.
Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 5.7% in the quarter ended June, the slowest in three years, from 6.1% in the preceding three months, sparking concern over the state of the economy. The residual impact of the November invalidation of high-value bank notes and the 1 July implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) were seen as contributing factors.
