Don't cut GST

The Council should instead focus on compliance

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will meet later this week and is expected to deliberate on the possibility of cutting rates. While the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take a call on the policy interest rate next month, at the moment, industry is looking at the GST Council for relief. But with a slowdown sharper than expected, a decision to cut GST rates will not be easy. Theoretically, it can be argued that a reduction in rates will help revive demand, which itself will partly compensate for the revenue loss. There are