Govt debts under control 8212; Sinha

NEW DELHI, JULY 30: Finance minister Yashwant Sinha today indicated that government borrowings were under control and not higher during t...

NEW DELHI, JULY 30: Finance minister Yashwant Sinha today indicated that government borrowings were under control and not higher during the first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared to previous years.

8220;It is a wrong notion that government borrowings during the current year are more than those in the previous years,8221; he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on 8220;finance for small and medium enterprises8221; here.

8220;I am collecting the figures of government borrowings and shall provide it to you,8221; he said adding they were not high in comparison to the previous years.

Sinha who exercised restraint in his reply due to coming into force of the model code of conduct in view of the forthcoming general elections also made a mention about his apprehensions in this regard during the address at the seminar.

Sinha said he had a burden8217; in his mind when he was driving to the seminar venue, on the limitations he would need to exercise due to the model code of conduct. Sinha said since he wasa minister, he was wondering how much he could speak that would not be violative of the model code of conduct and added he wanted to avoid any confrontation in this regard with the Election Commission.

Earlier Sinha said he favoured a debate on the reservation policy for small and medium industries and exhorted public sector banks to go to the doorsteps of these industries to provide loans and prevent sickness.

Sinha, who was inaugurating the National Conference on Finance for Small and Medium Enterprises SME, here said the loan approvals for these industries had come down during 1997-98 as compared to previous years and expressed concern that over two lakh of such units had gone sick.

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8220;The reservation for small and medium units should be debated. I am not saying they should end today. We have to analyse the impact of the reservation on the viability of the small and medium industries,8221; Sinha said.

Sinha cautioned that unless concrete steps were taken to provide technology and finance for thisvital sector, no amount of seminars or discussions would help the sector to progress.

He said in order to face immediate challenges from multinational corporations, it was essential for SMEs to undertake a joint marketing strategy on a mega scale8217; to improve their sales.

8220;Though there can be decentralised production the marketing should be undertaken jointly,8221; he said.

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Sinha said he had held discussions with the Indian Banks Association IBA, representing the management of public sector banks, to bring in supervision at the branch levels for providing advances for the SMEs.

The minister compared the lack of loan applications from the SMEs with the banks to the non-existing of first hand reports FIRs with the police station to justify crime and said the banks at the branch level should take steps to receive their applications and clear the loans if they are found viable.

8220;If they banks do not receive applications then it is not recorded,8221; he said.