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Economic slowdown -- Sinha to meet industrialists

K.R. Srivats

NEW DELHI, Aug. 15

THE Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, is set to renew meetings with select representatives of certain industry sectors to firm up the measures that may be required to address the current sluggishness in industrial growth.

Informed industry sources said that a meeting has been convened on September 5 by the Finance Ministry to provide an opportunity for some of the industrialists to come up with fresh ideas for reversing the slowdown in the economy.

``As we see it, the Finance Ministry is keen to hear the woes of certain specific sectors like real estate, cement or steel among others to firm up its views on what's ailing the economy. This meeting may well be considered as a prelude to the September 7 meeting of the PM's Council on Trade and Industry'', a senior official of an apex industry chamber told Business Line here.

Mr Sinha had met the representatives of these industry sectors a couple of months ago. A Government official said that more meetings are in the offing, when a better picture is expected to emerge on the progress of the monsoon, and the start of the busy season.

The official also said that the RBI, Finance as well as Commerce and Industry Ministries have already begun their ``preparatory'' work for the September 7 presentations to the Prime Minister. Besides the state of the economy, the Prime Minister's consult ations with the members of the Council on Trade and Industry will be focussed on the ``fiscal, monetary and external sector'' measures that may be needed to address the recent GDP slowdown in the year 2000-01.