Capex is the route to economic revival, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

In an exclusive interview with BS, Sitharaman says spend on capital assets may work better than sector-specific fiscal steps

The government would depend on its public capital expenditure programme to revive demand in the economy and might not go for sector-specific fiscal measures, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Business Standard on Friday.

In a wide-ranging interview, Sitharaman said the Centre would finalise the privatisation of a public sector bank soon. Also, the fiscal deficit and growth situation were very comfortable this year in spite of continuing external headwinds, she added.

“The route we have chosen and the one we are sticking with is capex. Even during the pandemic, we adopted this method of spend on capital assets to ensure