 "Arun Jaitley")
The government is ready to discuss all issues with the opposition to pass a key amendment in the winter session of parliament that would pave the way for a new nationwide goods and services tax (GST), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
The government is not, however, willing to compromise the basic architecture of the GST to get it through parliament, Jaitley told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday during a visit to Dubai.
He also added that the Indian government would prefer to use buoyant tax receipts to fund extra infrastructure spending than to slash its borrowing target for the current fiscal year.
Jaitley said he would prefer to stick to the fiscal deficit target of 3.9% of gross domestic product for the current fiscal year through to March 2016.
Achieving high growth and reducing poverty were priorities in the coming years, Jaitley said on a visit to Dubai, slapping down rebels in the ruling party who have criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a recent regional election defeat.
The Finance Ministers also said that the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates should start investing in India soon.
The first investment in India could be into India's national infrastructure fund, he said.
He added that the government would put legal structures and tax predictability in place to attract sovereign wealth funds.
