Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday remained non-committal on slippage in fiscal deficit target saying there were pros and cons of boosting growth by higher public spending. His comments came a day after RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan warned of borrowing more to spur spending for higher economic growth, saying such a move could risk macroeconomic stability of the country.
Speaking at The Economic Times Global Business Summit, the Minister said there are different views from industry and economists on whether the Government should scale up public investment in next fiscal or stick to the deficit target. “I can tell you I have been consulting all shades of opinion. This is the first time that I have come across people holding sharply divided views and each one has a strong argument in his favour. There is an argument being given that in the current economic situation public investment holds the key.”
