Focus On 3-Year Fiscal Management & Growth in Budget 2021: CII

As per Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the three-pronged strategy for Union Budget 2021, should center on the key themes of growth, fiscal consolidation, and strengthening of the financial sector targeted to overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the

BY Realty Plus
Published - Wednesday, 16 Dec, 2020

Focus On 3-Year Fiscal Management & Growth in Budget 2021: CII

As per Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the three-pronged strategy for Union Budget 2021, should center on the key themes of growth, fiscal consolidation, and strengthening of the financial sector targeted to overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. The CII has suggested that the budget proposals, focus on growth, and look at fiscal management from a three-year perspective. Disinvestment and monetization of assets can bring in revenues at a time when tax revenues have fallen sharply. The CII presented its recommendations to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Uday Kotak, President, CII added that Government expenditure should be prioritized in three areas- infrastructure, healthcare, and sustainability. The budget proposals should also address two critical areas of boosting private investments and providing support for employment generation. The CII recommended that the government bring down its stake in public sector banks (PSB) to below 50 percent through the market route, over the next 12 months, except for 3-4 large PSBs such as State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, and the Union Bank of India. It further recommended that the government create state-owned, professionally managed Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to finance key sectors of the economy, on the lines of KfW Germany, Brazil Development Bank (BNDES), and Korea Development Bank. This could be achieved by infusing equity into NABARD for financing agriculture and rural sector, SIDBI for financing MSMEs and IIFCL for financing infrastructure.