FM’s decisions will boost economy: Industrialists

LUDHIANA: Welcoming the slew of measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president Sharad Kumar Saraf said announcements made by the government was aimed at investment stimulus, demand stimulus, ease of doing business and recognition to wealth creators.

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 23

Welcoming the slew of measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president Sharad Kumar Saraf said announcements made by the government was aimed at investment stimulus, demand stimulus, ease of doing business and recognition to wealth creators. “Besides, the roll back of the higher tax on foreign investors and the release of funds to recapitalise public sector banks will go a long-way in easing liquidity and further giving a much-needed boost to the economy in such challenging times,” added Saraf.

“Further simplifying the GST system, the government announced that all pending GST returns for MSMEs till now will be sorted out in 30 days with future refunds in 60 days. This initiative of the government will further help the trade and the industry to overcome their problem of liquidity and capital requirements,” said Saraf.

The FIEO president said recapitalising of banks by Rs 70,000 crore upfront as additional lending and liquidity along with banks being asked to pass on rate cuts through MCLR reduction to further make Rs 5 lakh crore available for credit expansion would further help in creation of liquidity into the system.

“The reforms and measures to revive economic growth in such challenging times shows the commitment of the government under the dynamic leadership of the Prime Minister on a road map for New India based on inclusive growth,” he added.

At the same time, FOPSIA president Badish Jindal said they welcome the decision taken by the Finance Minister for auto sector but somewhere the government missed to decrease the GST on Auto parts from 28 per cent to 18 per cent.

The FM’s statement about the clearance of delayed GST refunds showed that online automatic GST refund system was not working properly. “FOPSIA raised the issue of delayed payments in the government sector and today the Finance Minister accepted that government departments are not obeying delayed payment act,” said Jindal.