Hope to meet fiscal targets: Jaitley

New Delhi, Jan 27
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday said the government was confident in meeting its fiscal deficit targets as the economy is favourably positioned to usher in growth.

"Revenue collections, which was affected due to low manufacturing in the last 2-3 years, are turning around and we hope to meet our fiscal targets," Jaitley said at an event here to mark the International Customs Day.

"Our reserves are good and current account deficit (CAD) position is much better. Our currency was among the two global currencies which withstood the might of dollar in recent times."

The minister, who was speaking at the investiture ceremony to honour officers of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), said that both domestic and foreign investors have shown huge curiosity and interest in India.

"We can’t afford to miss this opportunity. Ordinarily, everything is going in our favour including growth prospects," Jaitley said.

Jaitley cited other economies like Brazil, South Africa, Europe, Japan and Russia which are facing challenging situation, while Indian economy's prospects are showing an upward trend.

Jaitley elaborated that quick decision making, stability in policy matters and reforms in tax structure will attract foreign investors interest in India.

During his address, the minister also talked about the need to have a non-adversarial tax administration which is both investors and assesses friendly.

Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Jayant Sinha spoke about the need for more transparency in tax administration and the need to build data base for authentic and valid information.

He pointed at the need for coordination among different agencies to avoid delay in delivery of services.