New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s maiden Budget on Thursday is expected to be a tightrope walk of trying to meet demands for tax sops especially from the middle class and pursuing fiscal prudence to spur investment and growth.
There are high hopes from the new government that it will raise tax slabs and also significantly hike the annual tax exemption limit to provide a much-needed relief to salaried class, which is reeling under the stubbornly high inflation.
He could also provide relief to farmers to help them tide over the impact of deficient monsoon which could lead to fall in agricultural output. The government may set up a price stabilisation fund, as promised in the BJP’s manifesto.
On the other hand, Jaitley, though not a hard-core economist, is expected to pursue the path of fiscal prudence and not sacrifice it at the altar of populism.
He has already indicated that the government will have to refrain from mindless populism.
“If you indulge in mindless populism you burden the exchequer…you convert yourself into a high taxation society. It does not work. Therefore, if you have to follow a path of fiscal prudence, (you should) have a certain amount of discipline,” Jaitley had said recently.
