New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday hinted at a package of measures to boost the economy, while virtually ruling out any cut in duties on petroleum products to check the spike in fuel prices.
“We have taken note of all the economic indicators that are available. This has been a pro-active government on the reforms agenda. Over the last two days, I have had a series of discussions with ministerial colleagues and various secretaries.
“The government will take additional measures in the coming days after consulting the Prime Minister. Whenever the measures are taken, you will come to know of it,” Jaitley told reporters here following a meeting of the union cabinet.
On Tuesday evening, the Finance Minister chaired a high-level meeting to review the economic situation and discuss measures, including a possible stimulus package, to be taken amidst an economic slowdown.
The meeting was attended by, among others, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian and Secretaries in the Finance Ministry — Ashok Lavasa, Subhash Chandra Garg, Hasmukh Adhia, Rajiv Kumar and Neeraj Kumar Gupta.
Originally, the review was to take place with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation.
On the current high transport fuel prices, Jaitley said it was a temporary spike in global prices caused by the supply-demand mismatch due to hurricanes that hit the US coast.
