India's Cabinet is likely to consider shortly more economic reforms, including a proposal to increase the limit for foreign direct investment in the insurance sector, a federal minister said Friday.

Some of these steps, including a decision on increasing the cap on foreign investment in insurance to 49% from 26%, could come as early as next week, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma said.

The proposals are aimed at increasing capital inflows into the South Asian nation, where economic growth has slowed to its weakest in nearly a decade. A sharp slowdown in foreign investment inflows had also driven down the value of the rupee.

The government last week unveiled major reform steps, including an increase in the price of subsidized diesel and allowing higher overseas investments in the aviation and retail sectors, as part of its efforts to set its finances in order and revive investor confidence.

On Friday, it announced a deep cut in the rate of tax on the interest that Indian borrowers need pay their overseas lenders.

The proposal on insurance, to become a law, needs to be cleared by both houses of Parliament. The measures on retail and aviation needed just the Cabinet's approval.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444165804578009682398101250.html