Banking, GST & Infra are Govt’s top priorities: FM

New Delhi, Sep 7 (KNN) Revival of Banks, Passage of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and moving the stalled infrastructure projects are the top most priorities of the Government, said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely today.

He was addressing Economist India Summit in New Delhi.

Jaitley said that economic reforms in the country should be blended with social programmes.

"The advantages of reforms are the advantages of growth," Jaitley

He also said India's economy needed to grow faster than the 7.1 per cent recorded in the latest quarter. "We are still far below our best," he said.

He added that the country had not reached the point where it can consider selling majority stakes in the public sector banks that control seven tenths of assets in the financial system.

"I don't think that public or political opinion has converged to the point where we can think of privatisation in the banking sector," Jaitley said.

The government is consolidating some of the public sector banks to strengthen them, but does not plan to reduce the state's share below a threshold of 52 percent, Jaitley added. (KNN Bureau)