My views on Budget

Dear Editor

 

Giving below my comments on the budget.

I am also sending my photograph and my brief profile herewith as requested.

 

 

 

 

 

The budget presented by Mr. Mukherjee for sure was not the one to keep the reformers happy, rather it was shaped clearly on the political agenda of the Congress party. While it emphasized on the outlay for the rural India, which sector helped the Congress party to come to power, it clearly gave an impression that this government has already started laying a foundation for the preparation for the 2014 elections.

 

Interestingly the recently released economic survey 2008-09 has been largely ignored, in the sense that the budget totally missed on the divestment target, FDI in defense and insurance and many other reforms. In that sense the budget lacked a clear strategy and vision, which if attained , could have sent clear signals to the investors, corporates and the outside world. We would have definitely preferred to see the finance minister giving clear directive with his actions for propelling India into the 8 to 9% GDP growth over the next 5 years.

 

While abolition of surcharge and increase in taxable limits for the individuals is a welcome move, it will hardly help in bringing the money  into consumption and thereby helping stimulate the demand. The increase should have been much higher so as to divert some money towards spending on consumables by individuals.

 

For most of the industries, this budget was a non-event as there were no major changes or policy announcements, which was quite disappointing especially in the backdrop of the huge expectations built up in pre-budget period after the election results.

 

Big increase in the expenditure side largely with huge soaps on rural development and social schemes, although a welcome feature, is going to bring in lot of strain on the economy and the tax payers. It would be a real challenge for the finance minister to manage the huge fiscal deficit. Substantially higher borrowings are likely to increase the interest rates, which will be a dampener for the business sector.

 

Although the finance minister's intention of bridging the gap between "Bharat" and "India" is understandable, it certainly should not be at the cost of growth, especially when competing nations like China have gone several miles ahead and though quite late, we need to stand up and start running.

 

 

 

regards

Gurudas Aras Director

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