A stimulus package for the economy, to be announced tomorrow by the government and Reserve Bank, will not be a one-off assistance, but would be the first in a series of measures to help the sectors hit by the global slowdown.

The Commerce and Industry Minister, Kamal Nath said, "This will not be a single package. There will be a first package, second and third part of it." The RBI is also expected to announce a fresh round of rate cuts tomorrow, to lower the borrowing costs further. The central bank has already cut its benchmark short-term rate by 150 basis points to 7.5%. It has also reduced the CRR by 3.5% to 5.5%. Regarding the details of the stimulus package, prepared by the Committee of Secretaries in consultation with the RBI, Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said, "Let the Prime Minister announce it tomorrow."

According to Pillai, Rs 15,000 crore budgetary support would be extended to the infrastructure projects, while sops worth Rs 2,000 crore would be extended to the recession-hit exporters.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who has since taken the additional charge of the finance portfolio, chaired a meeting of the apex committee on December 2, to discuss the stimulus package. A government survey of 121 export-oriented manufacturing units indicated 65,000 job cuts in the last three months with worsening of the the global economic situation.