Center focuses on tourism growth, but the sector needs attention with monetary assistance

Saturday, February 6, 2021

The Center’s unparalleled focus on growth is indeed a reason for happiness for Chandrajit Banerjee, the Director General at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Banerjee said, “The government has betted on growth and this has been across the spectrum of the budget. This budget for the first time speaks of privatisation and not just disinvestment. Not worrying much about fiscal deficit in order to raise funds, the government has shown huge boldness in reforms.”

In her budget speech, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will borrow around Rs. 12 lakh crore in FY22, and added that the expenditure for the next fiscal has been pegged at Rs. 34.83 lakh crore, which is inclusive of Rs. 5.54 lakh crore of capital expenditure.

The fiscal deficit for FY21 is estimated at around 9.5% of GDP which is significantly higher than previous estimations. The Finance Minister has said that the deficit will come down to 6.8% in FY22. However, these numbers are considerably higher than previous year deficits.

Regarding from where the Rs. 12 lakh crore borrowing would come from, Banerjee said that besides raising funds via privatization and disinvestment, there is a need today and the need itself would help with implementation. There are certain critical areas for immediate intervention. “One is deepening the recovery, catapulting demand and improving credibility, and employment generation which is the most effective way to achieve inclusive growth,” he said.

Banerjee said that there are certain sectors like hospitality, tourism and aviation that need assistance and there is nothing for them. According to him, a huge amount of payment is pending to the private sector, which needs to be thought about. Rural infra, road construction and health needs to be focused on as they have multiplying effect on economy generating a large number of jobs.

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