PM to meet economists ahead of Budget
New Delhi,: Ahead of the presentation of the Budget for 2019-20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would on Saturday interact with the economists to review the current economic situation in the country.
Sources said that during the interaction, which comes ahead of presentation of the Budget on July 5 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, issues like the present state of the economy, ways to improve exports, agriculture and health systems are likely to be discussed.
The main focus in the meeting would be on how to boost economic growth.
The economists will make presentations before the Prime Minister on challenges facing the government in key sectors of the economy, the sources said.
The meeting comes in wake of fall in quarterly growth to 5.8 per cent in the first three months of the year (FY 2018-19), as per data released by the government on May 31. The figure was down from 6.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2018.
The figure meant India is no longer the world’s fastest growing major economy; it is China, with 6.4 per cent growth in the first quarter. India has fallen behind China’s pace for the first time in nearly two years.
The meeting also follows data released by the Statistics Ministry last month which said the unemployment rate was at a 45-year low, at 6.1 per cent in 2017-18.
UNI.