NEW DELHI, NOV 20: Former finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh today said that in order to sustain the favourable trends in the Indian economy, government will have to take necessary steps for correcting the fiscal system."Fiscal consolidation should be top priority of the government which is necessary not only for providing social safety net to masses but also to consolidate the growth process further in the coming months," Singh said at a seminar on mid-year review of Indian economy organised by National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.He also advocated pricing the public utilities in view of the impending need for huge investments in the infrastructure sector. Singh said that real interest rate needed to be lowered in order to fund infrastructure projects especially, which required long term funds. "Real interest rate never exceeded 2-3 per cent, but six per cent real interest rate is certainly high," he added. Earlier, Dr Ashok Lahiri, director of NIPFP said that the time was appropriate forthe government to launch second generation reforms as both internal as well as external uncertainties were more or less over, at least for the time being.
