Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has taken suggestions from the financial sector regulators ahead of the Union Budget due to be held next month.
The minister, who visited the country’s financial capital for the first time after taking charge of the finance ministry, and the heads of regulatory bodies took stock of the current financial and economic indicators.
He sought suggestions from the regulators as part of the pre-budget consultation and economic policy making exercise.
The meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was chaired by the Finance Minister at the RBI headquarters.
Apart from top finance ministry officials including Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, the meeting was attended by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan; SEBI Chairman UK Sinha; IRDA Chairman TS Vijayan; and Forward Markets Commission Chairman Ramesh Abhishek.
The Budget is expected to contain measures relating to creation of infrastructure, promote industry and agriculture, generate more revenues and cut subsidies so as to revive the GDP growth, which declined to 4.7 per cent in 2013-14, and rein-in the twin deficits — fiscal and current account.
Jaitley, who also holds the defence portfolio, visited the aircraft carrier INS Viraat and reviewed the Western Naval Command before the FSDC meeting.
He also met foreign investors to restore their confidence in the domestic markets and take their views on the upcoming reforms such as FDI, tax measures and divestment proposals.