The government is committed to containing fiscal deficit at 4.1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) this fiscal, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said on Friday.
“We are considering all options (cutting expenditure). We are very confident that we will be able to achieve fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent in the current fiscal year,” Mr Sinha said on the sidelines of an event here.
The government has targeted fiscal deficit of 4.1 per cent of GDP for FY 15, down from 4.5 per cent in the previous year and plans to reduce it further to 3 per cent by 2016-17.
Asked whether, the government is considering relaxing fiscal deficit targets to give itself room to revive public investments, Mr Sinha said: “We think it’s very important to demonstrate fiscal prudence that establishes our credibility globally as well. As of now, we are very much on road map and continue to pursue that.
“Obviously we need to be able to find resources for public investments and kick start the investment sentiments and we are working very hard on that as well and also number of innovative things we intend to do.”
On whether the government is considering extending excise duty concessions for auto companies beyond December 31, the minister said, “Excise matter (for auto sector) is under consideration. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said let’s wait till December 31.”
