Live
- Pakistan Protests: PTI Supporters March Towards Islamabad, Demanding Imran Khan's Release
- Additional Collector Conducts Surprise Visit to Boys' Hostel in Wanaparthy
- Punjab hikes maximum state-agreed price for sugarcane, highest in country
- Centre okays PAN 2.0 project worth Rs 1,435 crore to transform taxpayer registration
- Punjab minister opens development projects of Rs 120 crore in Ludhiana
- Cabinet approves Atal Innovation Mission 2.0 with Rs 2,750 crore outlay
- Centre okays Rs 3,689cr investment for 2 hydro electric projects in Arunachal
- IPL 2025 Auction: 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi becomes youngest player to be signed in tournament's history
- About 62 lakh foreign tourists arrived in India in 8 months this year: Govt
- IPL 2025 Auction: Gujarat bag Sherfane Rutherford for Rs 2.60 cr; Kolkata grab Manish Pandey for Rs 75 lakh
Finance Minister taking a call on bad bank, basic income proposals
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the Finance Ministry was debating the two innovative suggestions made by the latest Economic Survey -- Universal Basic Income (UBI) and creation of bad bank -- to deal with the unacceptable levels of bad loans. He, however, said the idea of UBI does not seem to be a feasible policy option at this point of time given the ‘political limitations.’
Jaitley to meet heads of PSU banks on NPAs today
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the Finance Ministry was debating the two innovative suggestions made by the latest Economic Survey -- Universal Basic Income (UBI) and creation of bad bank -- to deal with the unacceptable levels of bad loans. He, however, said the idea of UBI does not seem to be a feasible policy option at this point of time given the ‘political limitations.’
This year, it (Economic Survey) initiated a very important idea as to how do we subsidise n substitute the entire set of subsidies. We want to replace it by a Universal Basic Income system
- Arun Jaitley, FM
While inaugurating the one-week workshop for teachers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Delhi), the Finance Minister also emphasised policy makers to continuously upgrade their knowledge on different subjects. “I think it’s equally meant for policy makers because they should also be acquainted with the facts for informed policy making”, he noted.
On innovative ideas of the Survey, he said it remains a challenge on how to allocate subsidies in a targeted manner. “This year also it (Survey) initiated a very important idea as to how do we subsidise n substitute the entire set of subsidies. We want to replace it by a Universal Basic Income (to a defined section of poor) and that UBI expedites their pulling out of the present state of poverty that they live in.”
Jaitley will meet heads of PSU banks on Monday to discuss the issue of non-performing assets (NPAs) and the steps being taken by them to expedite the recovery of bad loans which have crossed Rs 6 lakh crore. Besides, the minister will review the financial performance of all the public sector banks (PSBs) at the meeting, the first between Jaitley and them in the current fiscal.
The Economic Survey, prepared by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, also strongly pushed for a bad bank in which all non-performing assets of the banks are vested so that the rest of the banking system could carry on with its own activities, he said.
