Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Thursday met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Srinagar, where she sought restructuring of credit facility to local businessmen who suffered huge losses due to last year's unrest in the Valley.

Jaitley, who is in Srinagar to chair crucial meeting of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, called on Mehbooba where the two discussed process of fund flow to the State, particularly under the Prime Minister’s Developmental Plan (PMDP), an official spokesman said.The Chief Minister also sought timely and periodic release of funds under the plan and apprised Jaitley of the huge losses suffered by local business units, particularly the ones started by young entrepreneurs, during the unrest of last year.

She sought restructuring of credit facility to them. Jammu and Kashmir suffered losses to the tune of over Rs 16,000 crore during the five-month long unrest in the Valley from July to November last year.

"Losses caused due to the unrest from July 8 to November 30, 2016 are estimated at more than Rs. 16,000 crore,” Economic Survey 2016 report states.

The chapter “Economies of Uncertainty and Conflict” of the report said that in 2016, the civil strife caused tremendous miseries, loss of life, complete halt of economic activity in the Valley coupled with loss of property worth crores of rupees.

“The scraping of internet services, mobile and phone services for long spells during the turmoil made communication in the state very difficult. Hartals, bandhs, stone pelting, curfews and restrictions immobilised life in all the 10 districts of the Valley,” it said.

Mehbooba seeks restructuring of credit to Valley businessmen