Congress MP T Subbarami Reddy, later stepping out of the meeting, said: "We demanded priority to industrial growth and focus on the banking sector."
In view of the present scenario, Reddy said he had suggested that interest rates should be reduced to encourage industrial growth.
Other leaders urged Mukherjee to raise income tax exemption limit to provide relief to the salaried class. At present, income tax is levied on income above Rs 1.8 lakh a year.
The leaders also expressed concerns over slowdown and wanted him to announce steps to boost growth. With Assembly elections in many states around the corner, Congress leaders were keen that the government increase its allocations for poverty alleviation programmes like NREGS, National Rural Health Mission and Bharat Nirman.
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