MSME dues worth Rs 40k Cr cleared, rest to be paid by Oct 1st week: Nirmala Sitharaman
The minister also said that ministries and departments have been asked to provide their detailed capital expenditure plans for the next four quarters as the government looks to boost growth by giving a push to spending.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said various ministries have cleared Rs 40,000 crore out of Rs 60,000 crore due mainly to MSMEs for supply of goods and services, and the remaining amount not locked in litigation too will be paid by the first week of next month.
The minister also said that ministries and departments have been asked to provide their detailed capital expenditure plans for the next four quarters as the government looks to boost growth by giving a push to spending.
"Government should not sit on over due payments...The idea here is to ensure that there are no outstanding dues to services and goods supplied to different departments. My intention is to have government departments clear all pending payments whoever it should go," she said after meeting top officials of 21 key infrastructure ministries.
The meeting assumes significance as the government is taking various steps, including a big reduction in corporate tax rates, to push the economic growth that slowed to a six-year low of five percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal.
Expenditure Secretary G C Murmu, who was also present at the press conference, said the most infrastructure ministries have reached 50 percent of their capex target for the current fiscal.
Expenditures, both revenue and capital, made by the Union government provides a major boost to aggregate demand.
Total expenditure projection of the central government for 2019-20 as per the Budget is Rs 27.86 lakh crore.
Of this, capital expenditure is budgeted at Rs 3.38 lakh crore.
The finance minister said the government's capital expenditure was on track and Budget estimates would be met. She further said the consumption was on the rise and credit offtake was growing, which together should result in "bouyancy" in the economy.
To a query on the fiscal discipline with rebate in corporate tax and expenditure, the minister said the government will reconcile fiscal deficit numbers later.
