RBI rate cut now will boost economy: Arun Jaitley

New DelhiFinance Minister Arun Jaitley Monday said that if the Reserve Bank of India moved to lower the cost of capital by cutting interest rates at this juncture of cooling inflation it would provide a good fillip to the economyI am quite clear in my mind that the cost of capital has to come down Inflation has moderated global fuel price has eased Therefore if the RBI which is a highly professional organisation in its wisdom decides to bring down the cost of capital it will give a good fillip to the Indian economy he saidArun JaitleyData released last week showed the countrys factory output grew at 25 percent in September even as retail inflation fell to a record low of 552 percent during OctoberSpeaking at the Citibank Investor Summit here Jaitley hoped that as a professional organisation the RBI will take the best decision on the count of cutting interest ratesJaitley also said that while the targets fixed for disinvestment in the current financial year are quite ambitious he was nevertheless hopeful of realising themWe have very ambitious disinvestment target this year I hope we will be able to reach close to that Jaitley saidThe government has set a target of Rs43425 crore to be earned from selling stakes in public sector undertakings during the current fiscalRegarding two major items on the governments reform agenda the finance minister said while he hoped the Insurance Amendment Bill will be passed in the upcoming winter session of parliament the government would table the Goods and Services Tax GST billHe said he was in touch with the Parliament Select Committee currently vetting the insurance bill and would try to persuade it to give its report at the earliestParliament where the Congress and the Left parties continue to oppose certain clauses in the bill is scheduled to convene Nov 24 for the monthlong winter sessionThe panel has been asked to give its report on the last day of the first week of the sessionIn the 15member committee headed by BJP member Chandan Mitra seven members including the Biju Janata Dals Kalpataru Das and Independent Rajeev Chandrashekhar support the billThe Congress has three members while the Samajwadi Party the Bahujan Samaj Party the CPIM the Trinamool Congress and the AIADMK have one member each They are also opposed to certain clauses in the billThe amendment aims at increasing private equity from 26 to 49 percent in the insurance sector and was referred to the Select Committee in AugustThe government can convene a joint session of parliament to get the bill passed but only after it is voted on and defeated in the Rajya SabhaThe BJP has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha but has only 42 members in the Rajya Sabha The BJPled National Democratic Alliance NDA has 57 members while the Congress has 69 in the Rajya SabhaThe Congress had said the NDA introduced many amendments to what the previous United Progressive Alliance UPA government led by it had tabled in the house Thus it required a closer lookThe BJP had opposed the insurance bill when the UPA tabled it in the Rajya SabhaJaitley also said he will apprise the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers of the draft Constitution Amendment Bill on GST before introducing it in parliamentLast week the committee met here and expressed the hope that the new tax regime could be implemented by the proposed date April 1 2016 notwithstanding their differences with the central government over some key provisionsThe central government has written to the panel suggesting that the threshold annual turnover for levying the GST should be increased to Rs25 lakh Rs25 million from Rs10 lakh Rsone millionThe committee in August resolved to lower the threshold limit for imposing the GST on companies from a turnover of Rs25 lakh to Rs10 lakhSeen as a key to facilitating industrial growth and improving the business climate in the country the GST bill needs to be passed by a twothirds majority in both houses of parliament and by the legislatures of half of the 29 states to become a law