Govt's state of the economy update: Rs 61,000 crore of dues cleared, says CEA

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the media along with the chief economic advisor and the revenue secretary of the government on Friday to give an update on how measures taken to boost the economy have fared so far.

The press briefing was started by Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the chief economic advisor of the government, who said that the government has taken various steps to boost the economy. Recapitalizing banks, corporate tax cuts and lending a helping hand to the real estate sector were some of the steps the CEA highlighted.

The CEA also announced that the government has focused on clearing all dues.

"Have put in a mechanism to quickly clear PSU dues to ensure liquidity in the economy. Govt & PSU dues of up to Rs 61,000 crore have been cleared in the past 2 months," he said.

"17 proposals, amounting to Rs 7,657 crore have been approved under a partial credit guarantee scheme. Sanctions to NBFCs/HFCs are currently at Rs 4.47 lakh crore to support retail lending," the CEA updated.

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On the banking sector, the CEA highlighted that loans amounting to Rs 70,000 crore have been sanctioned till November 27.

"Over 8 lakh repo-linked loans amounting to Rs 70,000 crore have been sanctioned till November 27. The RBI's mandate to banks to link lending rates to external benchmarks has been implemented. A transparent one-time settlement system has also been introduced in PSU banks," he said.

With regards to the realty sector, Subramanian highlighted that the newly introduced realty fund has seen traction from as many as 13 entities.

"Rs 25,000 crore of funds have been approved for last-mile financing of stalled realty projects. The realty fund has found traction from 13 entities like HDFC, SBI, LIC," he said.

On helping and attracting corporate investment, the CEA highlighted that the government has now raised the FPI limit and also eased the KYC process.

“KYC process for FPIs has been eased. The FPI limit in companies has been raised from 24 percent to sector limits. Also, there is no need for debt reserve for debentures by listed companies anymore,” he explained.

With regard to the job scenario in the country, the CEA noted that casual workers and self-employed have shifted to salaried jobs in rural India.

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Revenue secretary, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, gave an update on the income tax refunds so far.

"Income tax refunds so far in this fiscal stands at Rs 1.57 lakh crore versus Rs 1.23 lakh crore in the last financial year. IGST refunds so far this financial year stand at Rs 38,988 crore versus Rs 56,057 crore last year," he said.

He also updated, "ITC (input tax credit) refunds stand at Rs 33,395 crore in FY20 versus Rs 36,513 crore in FY19,"