Govt announces second stimulus package

New Delhi, Jan 3: The Government on Friday, Jan 2 announced the second stimulus package to counter the global economic crisis on country's economy. The package came soon after the central bank cut the reverse-repurchase and the repurchase rate by 100 basis points each while reducing the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points, to reduce bring down the cost of borrowings.

"The fiscal incentives announced so far will continue till a new government gets an opportunity to present a full budget after the general elections mid-2009," Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, said while announcing the package.

The vote-on-account that will be presented by the current Congress-led alliance before the elections will include the changes effected in the packages. Ahluwalia did not reveal the cost of this round of fiscal incentive, except to add that tax cuts would involve revenue foregone of Rs 40,000 crore in the current fiscal.

"The first stimulus package cost the government around Rs 31,000 crore — including additional plan expenditure of Rs 20,000 crore and a 4-percentage-point cut in excise duty. No further fiscal measures like tax cuts will be announced in the current financial year," Ahluwalia added.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)