New Delhi: The spending on major subsidies including fuel, fertilizer and food is likely to hit 2.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal year, up from 1.9% targeted in the Union budget, finance minister P. Chidambaram said on Saturday.
The finance minister was speaking a day after the government said it was opening up its multi-brand retail sector to foreign chains and two days after it announced a steep increase in the heavily subsidized price of diesel, in a spate of policy reforms aimed boosting growth and shoring up government finances. Reuters
