No more stimulus in 2008-09: Montek

Ruling out possibility of more stimulus,Ahluwalia said enough had been done for industry.

Ruling out the possibility of any more stimulus package to boost economic growth in 2008-09,Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Wednesday said enough had been done for industry.

“The Planning Commission thinks whatever has been done is sufficient,” he told reporters here on the sidelines of a seminar on “Economic lawlessness and justice in India”.

The Commission,Ahluwalia added,”has not proposed another stimulus package for this financial year”.

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The government has already announced two stimulus packages to give a boost to the economy,reeling under the impact of the global slowdown on the Indian economy.

The government and the Reserve Bank,Ahluwalia added,were working in close co-ordination on steps to stimulate the economy.

The Plan panel chief had already ruled out any tax concessions to industry during the current fiscal,which ends on March 31.

“Taxes will not be altered between now and the next budget,” he had said on Tuesday.

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The next regular budget is likely to be presented sometime in July,while the government will come out with an interim budget and a vote-on-account in February to complete the essential business in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Ahluwalia,however,is of the view that the government would have to actively use both monetary and fiscal policies in the coming fiscal to boost growth,which is expected to come down to around 7 per cent from 9 per cent in the previous fiscal.

“If we utilise whatever we have announced in the budget,there will be lot of expenditure”,he had said.