Education, agriculture sectors to get priority in Budget: FM

Union finance minister, P Chidambaram, has indicated that education and agriculture sectors would get top priority in the coming Union Budget.

Union finance minister, P Chidambaram, has indicated that education and agriculture sectors would get top priority in the coming Union Budget. “Everything else can wait but not agriculture and education,” the Minister said, adding that the two sectors required top priority.

Addressing a party rally last night in Sivagangai, which happens to be his Lok Sabha constituency, Chidmabaram said importance had to be given for the education sector “as literacy alone could make India a super power.” Education and the farm sectors were his priority, Chidambaram said at the meeting of party workers in Sivagangai near Madurai, during which membership cards were distributed to new cadres.

The UPA Government, he assured, would take care of the farm sector and urged farmers to ensure their children’s education. In the last three years the Centre had allocated Rs 28,600 crore for education sector lending, of which Rs 17,636 crore had been distributed. The amount was four times more than that allocated during the NDA regime, Chidambaram said. Importance would be given for education loans for students, he said.

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NEW DELHI: With economic growth likely to slow down to 8.7 per cent this fiscal, public sector bank heads are expected to come under pressure from finance minister P Chidambaram when he meets them on Tuesday to raise lending to the manufacturing sector and cut interest rates.

“Some public sector banks have already reduced interest rates, but other banks should also bring down interest rates considering there is ample liquidity in the system and deposit rates have come down,” official sources said.

They said the meeting is likely to focus on “banks” role to meet Budget targets, their performance apart from credit quality and delivery to the target sectors. The meeting assumes significance as it comes on the heels of the Reserve Bank maintaining status quo in key rates. The FM, who met RBI governor Y V Reddy on Saturday, is believed to have discussed measures to moderate the possible rise in capital inflows besides steps to raise credit to the productive sectors and for consumer goods to ensure better GDP figures in the fourth quarter.

According to advance estimates by Central Statistical Organisation, manufacturing output growth is expected to slow down to 9.4 per cent this fiscal against 12 per cent in FY’07.