'Quick growth is the solution for debt position'

Finance Secretary TV Somanathan-the top bureaucrat in the Union finance ministry who also holds the portfolio of expenditure is sure about India's fiscal health getting stronger with the robustness of its economic growth.

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Better fiscal performance is the outcome of systemic reforms and hard work undertaken by various arms of the government, he says in a conversation with Rajeev Jayaswal. Edited excerpts:

It has been a steady annual process. I wouldn't say it is magic, it is more hard work. I would say in the sense that both the revenue side and the expenditure side have been managed with care. On the revenue side, various measures, which were taken to improve tax revenue, are bearing fruit. And some of these are the fruits of long-term changes started even before 2019.

Like, the change in the various information systems of the tax department. The fact that we are disclosing... whatever information is known about the taxpayer is disclosed to the taxpayer himself to say that we know this about you, now you please file your return. So, instead of first him filing a wrong return and then going after the person, the person is told this is the information we have.

On the expenditure side we have moved to "just in time" management of funds.