Widening GST base could fetch up to 1% of GDP in extra revenue, says IMF’s Gita Gopinath
New Delhi: Widening the Goods and Services Tax (GST) base could fetch as much as 1% of GDP in additional revenue for India to meet its development spending requirements, Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday.
Speaking at the Delhi School of Economics diamond jubilee conference in the capital, Gopinath said given India's current stage of development, the fiscal space can't be increased by reducing spending.
“Given that India has to make public spending, any fiscal consolidation has to come from the channel of raising revenues,” Gopinath said in response to a question from economist and policymaker NK Singh, who served as chairperson of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
Gopinath was speaking about how individual nations can mobilise resources to meet their development spending requirements amid high debt levels and interest rates.
