New Delhi, Feb 15 Indian economists who met senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) L. K. Advani here suggested immediate initiatives on the part of the Government to regain investors' confidence in the market.

These economists had met in the wake of current economic crisis and the state of affairs in the Indian context which have been viewed as matter of serious concern

Senior party leader Yashwant Sinha, who held a news conference later on Saturday to brief reporters about the meeting, said that the economists had insisted on bold and decisive steps on the part of the Central Government.

"They all agreed that the greatest crisis in the economy today was the crisis of confidence and that is why there is no fresh investment taking today. People are not buying, banks are not lending and economy is coming to a standstill. The Government will need to take bold and decisive action immediately," said Yashwant Sinha.

He further stated that the current level of fiscal deficit is also a matter of grave concern.

"The greatest disappointment that many of them showed with us with the unbridled fiscal deficit in the Government of India's budget in the State Governments' budgets and the unprecedented level of fiscal deficit which they said was something like 13 percent," he added.

Indian policy makers have scrambled to support the economy from the impact of the global financial crisis, which analysts' estimate has helped fuel a blow-out in the federal fiscal deficit to about 10 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008-09 from a planned 2.5 per cent.

Faced with faltering growth, the Government had announced two stimulus packages, including extra spending of four billion dollars, while for its part the central bank has cut its key-lending rate by 350 basis points since October to 5.50 per cent.

The Government has also unveiled plans to borrow 460 billion rupees by the end of the fiscal year in March to fund its stimulus measures and meet extra spending needs. (ANI)