Nirmala Sitharaman Takes Charge as Economic Crisis in India Deepens, to Address Press Briefing at 5 PM

New Delhi, August 23: With the Indian economy slowing down and value of rupee depreciating against United States dollar, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to address a press briefing at 5 pm on Friday. Sources in the Finance Ministry state that Sitharaman would announce steps to revive economic growth.

Among the significant issues that are expected to be addressed include foreign portfolio investment (FPI) exodus, falling Indian economy, job cuts in the automobile sector and tax relaxations on firms. Also, an official stated that there are high possibilities that Sitharaman might consider reducing the taxes, applied to investors in the Union Budget 2019. CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian Differs From Niti Aayog VC, Says Private Sector Must Change its 'Papa Bacha Do Mujhe' Attitude

Earlier, reports arrived that India slipped to ninth position in the world's fastest economy index and the growth slid to a near five-year low of 5.8 percent. NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar raised concerns on Thursday on the plunging economy of the country. He had stated that the government need to take urgent steps to reverse the situation as the entire financial sector was under threat.

On Friday, the Indian rupee weakened sharply and fell below the 72 marks against the US Dollar in opening trade. Even in the automobile sector, nearly 10 lakh people are on the verge of losing their jobs. Similar is the condition of other firms, who are considering to raise the price of selected products.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 23, 2019 04:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).