Govt will 'put to sleep' pending tax disputes: FM

Jaitley said pending reforms such as the bankruptcy code and dispute resolution in major contracts will be carried out soon

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the government is looking at a number of reforms and resolution of pending tax disputes to attract investments enable the economy withstand global financial markets turmoil. 

At India Economic Convention, organised by International Chamber of Commerce and India Foundation here, Jaitley also said funds have to be shifted to small entrepreneurs in unorganised sector to generate jobs as the big private players are grappling with their own problems.

"Our pending (tax) disputes ... We are trying that in the next few days itself to put to sleep either by the resolution or by the executive resolution," Jaitley said.

Recognising that the goods and services tax (GST) is stuck in a political logjam, the finance minister said other pending reforms such as the bankruptcy code, dispute resolution in major contracts, expeditious arbitration process and the public arbitration law will be carried out. 

He said through these reforms, the government is trying to make fundamentals of the economy strong so that it withstands the turmoil such as witnessed in the global markets currently. 

The finance minister's statement assumes significance as the Federal Reserve is expected to take a decision on hiking interest rate today, which may have its own repercussions on markets worldwide.