Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday that the government would take action in the coming weeks/months to further liberalise FDI sectoral caps, address the stressed assets issue in the banking sector and deepen the corporate bond and stock markets.
The government will not wait for the Budget to take the policy initiatives¦ policy initiatives are round the clock and 24×7 exercise, Das said.
With banking sector under stress due to sharp increase in bad assets, Das said steps would be spelt out by the government very shortly on how to deal with the issue of power distribution companies, which contribute the most to such assets. Also, the government has recently announced measures such as recapitalisation of public sector banks to enable them meet risk-based capital requirement and for future growth.
Simultaneously, actionable ideas are being put together for with regard to deepening of the bond market and stock markets. In stock markets, the emphasis would be given on strengthening and deepening the retail market and participation of mutual funds, he said.
Das also said that the government was considering ways to liberalise sectoral caps for foreign direct investment, which could give a boost to manufacturing and other sectors. As the the government cannot resort to fiscal stimulus measures, it is in the process of taking a series of steps to address issues ranging from agriculture sector to ease of doing business, to strengthen the initiative towardsMake in India and to ensure revival of demand, he said.
