 "<div>Citizens matter, revenue not consideration: Sitharaman on GST rate cuts</div>")
The cuts to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) have not considered foregone revenue but only factored in the welfare of citizens, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Network 18 in an interview.
In an exclusive interview with Network 18, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the GST reforms did not consider the loss of revenue but only considered the welfare of citizens.
Sitharaman said that as many as many 99 per cent of goods and services have been brought under 0 per cent, 5 per cent, and 18 per cent slabs, and only 1 per cent of goods are in the higher 40 per cent slab, meaning that the overwhelmingly majority of goods and services have seen reduction of rates.
The Union government has projected that Rs 48,000 crore of revenue would be foregone with GST rate cuts.
However, Sitharaman said that the benefits of GST rate cuts and other steps like the income tax cuts outweighed concerns of the foregone revenue.
Independently, economists have said that the consumption and spending surge induced by GST and income tax cuts could raise the GDP growth by up to 0.6 per cent, meaning that the blow of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be more than halved.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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