Divestment for fiscal deficit financing disastrous: CPI-M

September 23rd, 2009 KOLKATA - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said the government planned to scale down fiscal deficit to 4 percent by 2012. "We should try to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5 percent in 2011 and 4 percent by 2012," Mukherjee said in an address at the 155th annual general meeting of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.

September 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The shipping ministry has approved the Department of Economic Affairs' proposal to divest government state in Cochin shipyard, Shipping Secretary A.P.V.N. Sarma said here Tuesday.

August 24th, 2009 Indo-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI - India's fiscal deficit this year will not exceed 6.8 percent, Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here Monday. "Deficit will not be more than 6.8 percent in the current fiscal,” Ahluwalia told reporters here.

July 21st, 2009 Guthrie ends fiscal year with slight deficitMINNEAPOLIS — The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis is reporting its first deficit in 14 years as the recession took its toll on the box office, fundraising and endowments. The Guthrie had an operating deficit of $67,000 for the fiscal year that ended March 31.

July 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Wednesday ruled out rollback of tax cuts offered to various sectors as part of the fiscal stimuli announced earlier and said it intends to bridge the fiscal deficit largely through internal resource mobilisation. "The economy is slowly reviving.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government is determined to bring the fiscal deficit under control, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here Tuesday. Addressing economists at a seminar organised by the India Policy Forum, he said the fiscal stimulus provided by the government had put a burden on the deficit but the package was necessary in the given economic scenario.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Tax rates were not raised in the 2009-10 budget proposals as economic conditions remained difficult while tax relief for individuals would help boost consumption, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said here Monday. The finance minister has left unchanged the excise and customs duty cuts that were announced following the global economic meltdown because "the time is not yet right to raise any tax rate.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday revived the government's divestment programme, promising equity of state-run enterprises in the hands of general public. He also said that in areas like banking and insurance, specifically, the majority control in state-run companies would remain in the hands of the government with fresh infusion of equity to help them remain globally competitive.

June 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government can raise about Rs.80,000 crore ($16.6 billion) by divesting stake in public sector units, says an industry lobby report. "Dilution of stake in leading public sector units alone could fetch at least Rs.80,000 crore," the report by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said, adding that this amount could be used to bring down the fiscal deficit burden.

June 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Divestment of even minority stake in state-owned firms can raise nearly $95 billion (Rs.450,309 crore), help clean the red ink on the government's balance sheet and make enough room for another fiscal stimulus, said an independent study released Monday. The study by Delhi-based brokerage firm SMC Capitals said as much as $94.77 billion can be raised from the sale of equity in state-run firms even if the government retains 51 percent controlling stake.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Inc has readied its 100-day wish list for the new government. It wants the policies to focus on agriculture, divestment, skill development, infrastructure and manufacturing to nurse the Indian economy back to high growth.

February 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India’s consolidated fiscal deficit may increase to 10.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this fiscal and 10 percent the next year, according to an estimate by global investment bank Goldman Sachs. 'We do not think that the deficit will come down substantially over the next few years,' Tushar Poddar, economist with Goldman Sachs, said in a statement.

February 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India’s consolidated fiscal deficit may increase to 10.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this fiscal and 10 percent the next year, according to an estimate by global investment bank Goldman Sachs. 'We do not think that the deficit will come down substantially over the next few years,' Tushar Poddar, economist with Goldman Sachs, said in a statement.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday said high fiscal deficit was inevitable given the global economic scenario and increasing public expenditure. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his interim budget speech pegged the current fiscal's deficit at 6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), but hoped that it would come down to 5.5 percent in next financial year.

January 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Friday lowered India's growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.1 percent due to the impact of global meltdown and warned that the fiscal deficit was well above the comfort zone. The council, headed by economist Suresh Tendulkar, also told a press conference here that it expected the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 7-7.5 percent during the next fiscal.