NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Modi’s Government should stick to the fiscal deficit target laid out for this fiscal year and focus on privatising staterun companies, according to the Budget wish-list of the Confederation of Indian Industry.
In a pre-Budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the CII suggested that the Budget should adhere to the fiscal deficit target of 6.4 pc of gross domestic product (GDP) for the current year.
The industry body was also of the opinion that the Government should aim to reduce it to 6 per cent of the GDP next year.
Data by the Controller General of Accounts shows that the gap between the Government’s revenue and expenditure at Rs 6.19 trillion during the AprilSeptember period was 17.6 pc higher than the corresponding period last year.
The Government has been struggling to privatise state-run firms and had to put on hold some of its earlier plans, including selling one of the flagship oil refiners Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd.
