Centre not considering farm loan waiver: Jaitley

The Centre is not considering any proposal for farm loan waiver, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today, a day after Punjab approved waiving of loans for nearly 10 lakh farmers in the state.

"There is no such proposal. We have got FRBM Act and fiscal deficit target, we intend adhering to it," he said here.

In Union Budget 2017-18, the fiscal deficit has been pegged at 3.2 per cent, lower than 3.5 per cent in the last financial year.

The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM)



committee, headed by former revenue secretary N K Singh, has recommended keeping budgetary deficit at 3 per cent of the GDP in three years to March 2020. 

It also suggested progressively reducing it to 2.5 per cent by 2022-23.

Despite a bumper crop this rabi season, farmers in many states are in distress because of sharp fall in prices in both domestic and global market.

Farmers in various parts of the country have been agitating, seeking higher support prices for their produce as well as waiver of loans