Govt yet to come to a decision on bank transactions tax: Shaktikanta Das

The Dollar Business Bureau

The government has yet to come to a decision with regards to tax on banking transactions, but it has got various recommendations from the Committee of Chief Ministers, constituted by the NITI Aayog, said Economic Affairs Secretary, Shaktikanta Das on Thursday.

“The government is carefully examining the report, no decision has been taken so far, as and when a decision is taken, naturally government will give it out,” said Das, while speaking at the ASSOCHAM’s 96th Annual Function in New Delhi.

Mentioning the strong fiscal foundation of India, he said that the fiscal deficit of the country has gradually been cut down,and that it is essential to find the perfect balance between the public expenditure requirements and fiscal consolidation by focussing those sectors of country we need to spend more.

Das further said that the government has some specific fiscal limitations and that is why it would be difficult to cut the corporate tax rates to 25% overnight as fiscal cost will be quite high and the government will not be able to do justice to several other sectors of economy including rural infrastructure and agriculture.

On the growth prospective of the country, the economic affairs secretary said while the overall global scenario remains uncertain, outlook is very positive for India’s growth.

“We are expecting a growth to be beyond 7% on the back of several policy measures the government has taken before as well as during the budget and which it will continue to take, over the coming months,” he said.

“India’s growth is based on generating more job opportunities with the help of increased spending on infrastructure by carrying out reforms and by bringing new policy initiatives in various sectors such as textiles, footwear, leather, etc, by taking measures for tax reforms and keeping with the reforms policy,” he added.