A day before taking charge, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday met senior officials of the ministry to discuss issues related to the economy.
Finance secretary Ashok Chawla, the senior-most secretary in the ministry, as well as chief economic advisor Arvind Virmani, met Mukherjee at his residence on Sunday noon. "It was a routine briefing," Chawla told Business Standard after the meeting. However, he did not elaborate on the talking points of the discussions with Mukherjee.
On Monday morning, the veteran Congress leader from West Bengal will officially take charge of the finance ministry. Sources said he is scheduled to attend back-to-back meetings with senior officials of the ministry on Monday.
After being sworn-in as finance minister on Friday, Mukherjee told reporters the priority would be to protect the economy from global economic crisis. "Major economic issues have to be addressed and efforts will be made to insulate the economy from the adverse impact of the financial slowdown," he said, without specifying what measures he planned to take.
Mukherjee was allotted the finance portfolio on Saturday. Significantly, he had met senior officials of the ministry on Friday for an informal meeting.
These meetings assume significance as the United Progressive Alliance government will have to present the Budget in the backdrop of the global recession, which is likely to shave off India's economic growth. Norms mandate that the Budget will have to be presented before July 31.
If the pre-Budget process extends longer, then the government will have to get a vote-on-account to ensure that financial allocations needed by the government for functioning do not get hampered.
Mukherjee, as finance minister of the previous government, had also presented the vote-on-account on February 16, where the outgoing ruling alliance announced further cuts in indirect taxes.
