By BW CFO World Online Bureau
A meeting is announced for the 3rd of September to take stock of the financial sector and the pandemic-hit economy.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on September 3 to discuss the conditions of the financial sector and to formulate a strategy to support the speedy recovery of the economy.
This would be the 24th meeting of the FSDC and the first during the current financial year. The meeting is predicted to be held after first-quarter GDP numbers show growth of about 20% against a contraction of 24.4% recorded in the same quarter of last year.
Speedy recovery is seen in some of the macroeconomic indicators including improvement in tax mobilisation, credit growth, manufacturing uptick in certain sectors and pick up in exports.
Sources also said that the finance minister may ask financial sector regulators to ease up the investment norms.
Earlier this month, Sitharaman announced a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways.
The monetisation of operating public infrastructure assets has been identified as a key means for sustainable infrastructure financing by the Union Budget 2021-22.
Towards this, the Budget provided for the preparation of a ‘National Monetisation Pipeline’ of potential brownfield infrastructure assets. In consultation with infra lines, NITI Aayog has prepared a report on NMP.
The aggregate asset pipeline under NMP over the four-year period is indicatively valued at Rs 6 lakh crore. The estimated value corresponds to 14 per cent of the proposed outlay for the Centre under the National Infrastructure Pipeline.
The FSDC is expected to review various aspects associated with the stimulus packages announced by the government to tide over the economic crisis induced by the pandemic.
The Reserve Bank of India Governor, and the heads of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, and International Financial Services Centres Authority are also members of the FSDC.
(PTI)