Budget 2019 – Populism within Limits
While last year’s theme was pro Rural, pro Agriculture and pro Woman budget and there was no significant takeaways for middle class. The election mode is ON and it was clear that the government wanted to use this opportunity which is one of the last opportunities before them to send positive messages to its core voters. The tax sops given to the middle class and salaried employees makes it a friendly budget. Fiscal prudence prevailed as the fiscal deficit was stated to be contained at 3.4%. Unarguably there were two main themes: Key Numbers · India’s Economic Size: $ 2.6 trillion (India to become $5 trillion economy in 5 years) · Total expenditure of this year’s Budget: 27.84 lakh crore · GDP Expected (2018-19): 7.2% · Fiscal Deficit: 3.4% of GDP · Current Accou...