00:00There are fears of job losses due to, you know, steep tariff by US and, you know, certain signals which are there, initial signals, indicates that there could be job losses in certain sectors.
00:20Do you fear that, do you subscribe to that view and will it have impact on consumption, domestic consumption also?
00:29So, there are certain sectors which are employment heavy which do have exposure to the US and to that extent may get affected. Government is well aware of that and is currently assessing the possible impact and working towards possible solutions for that.
00:52On the consumption side, there are many things that we feel are positive including the steps being taken in setting up of task force, setting up of high level committees to look at deep seated and next generation reforms as well as the GST rate structure which we hope, which we think will actually add on to the consumption factor that you asked upon.
01:20And therefore, these as well as the indications that we are getting from the high frequency indicators, that growth and consumption will continue, give us the expectation and assessment that we will be able to hold up.
01:34Ma'am, on fiscal deficit side, do you think you are in a position to meet fiscal deficit target given the revenue constraint?
01:41So, this question has been coming up because of the quarter numbers which have come. On that, I would like to say that quarter by quarter or month by month assessments of fiscal deficit numbers may not give a correct picture because of temporal mismatches which may come in on the receipt and expenditure side both.
02:03On the overall year fiscal deficit numbers, our assessment so far is that we will be able to achieve the target. The cause for our assessment is that, as I have already said, on more sides than less, we feel that the fundamentals remain strong.
02:25Private consumption numbers came out yesterday. The gross capital formation numbers also showed that both are strong and we think that in the coming quarters also they shall be holding up. Government capex has been a big factor in holding up our numbers so far.
02:43And therefore, not only on the fiscal deficit side, but as you had asked earlier on the growth numbers as well, we remain robust as of now.
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