Workers paint the exteriors of a newly constructed residential building on the outskirts of Kolkata, India, July 5, 2019. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will provide 100 billion rupees ($1.41 billion) of funds to boost affordable and middle income housing, the country’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday, as she announced measures designed to aid India’s slowing economy.

The government will make funding available for housing projects that are not in a bankruptcy process or classified as non-performing assets, Sitharaman said during a press conference in New Delhi.

She said the government would also relax external commercial borrowing guidelines for projects in the country’s affordable housing scheme.