Govt to focus on sectors hit by global meltdown -Patil

The UPA Government will focus on revamping sectors like exports, housing, small and medium enterprises, commercial vehicles and textiles in its 100-day work program, President Pratibha Patil said today.

“My government will focus attention on sectors that are adversely affected, especially small and medium enterprises, exports, textiles, commercial vehicles, infrastructure and housing,” Patil said in her address to Parliament.

The attention on the sectors would be accompanied by measures to achieve a countercyclical expansion in public investment in infrastructure sectors, including public-private partnerships in these areas, she said.

The President said that the Government’s immediate priority must be to focus on management of the economy that would counter the effect of the global slowdown by a combination of sectoral and macro-level policies.

The Indian economy grew at 6.7 percent in 2008-09 compared to 9 percent in the previous year.

The country’s exports have been hit by slump in global demand. After recording a healthy growth of over 30 percent in the first half of 2008-09, exports entered into negative zone in October last year. However, to mitigate the effects of the downturn, the Government has announced stimulus packages in December 2008 and January.

PTI