India's second fiscal stimulus package likely later Friday

Friday, 02 January 2009, 22:46 IST
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New Delhi: The Indian government is likely to announce its much-awaited second fiscal stimulus package later Friday with sector-specific measures to spur the economy but without any additional expenditure. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montel Singh Ahluwalia and Finance Secretary Arun Ramanathan are expected to announce the package after trading closes in stock markets, officials in Prime Minister's Office said. They said the package, overseen by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was likely to include measures for some labour-incentive as also export-oriented industries like textiles, housing, handicraft, leather, and gems and jewellery. The first package announced in December had called for additional spending of 20,000 crore (200 billion/$4 billion) in the remaining three months of this fiscal and an across-the-board cut of 4 percent in value added tax to push demand and spur growth.
Source: IANS