Mumbai: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on his maiden visit on Friday to the financial capital since assuming charge at North Block, will hold talks with sector regulators led by RBI Governor and Sebi chief to take stock of the economic situation.
Jaitley, who also holds the defence portfolio, will kick off his day with a visit to aircraft carrier INS Viraat and review the operational preparedness of the Western Naval Command, which witnessed two major submarine mishaps in the last one year.
In the afternoon, according to the RBI, the Minister will chair the 11th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) at the Central bank's Mint Road office.
Apart from top finance ministry officials, the meeting will be attended by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha, Irda Chairman T S Vijayan, Forward Markets Commission head Ramesh Abhishek and PFRDA Chairman Anup Wadhawan among others.
Fiscal situation, external sector environment and developments in financial markets are likely top the agenda, which would also include financial sector reforms, particularly in the banking sector, reeling under bad loans and depleting core capital.
An RBI panel report by PJ Nayak recently suggested that government should bring down its holding in public sector banks below 51 percent apart from calling for their merger.
Jaitley would also interact with institutional and overseas investors in the evening.
The FIIs have been pumping large amounts of money into the financial markets in the run-up to the polls and also post BJP victory hoping for major reforms and swift decision making by the Narendra Modi government.
The meeting with FIIs assumes importance as the government is expected to usher in a slew of reforms on the FDI front and aggressively pursue divestment to shore up non-tax revenue.
