The Union Budget for the financial year 2022-2023 will be presented in 3 days from now. Last year, the Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman said the Government would present a Budget “which is like never before”. It is pertinent to recall here that the present Finance Minister holds the distinction of presiding over the first recession in 40 years! In this blog I wish to lay out a brief overview of the economy and few aspects which I believe should be the focus of the Budget for 2022-23: Economic Overview 2021-22 The first Advanced Estimate of National Income for the financial year 2021-22 was released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on 7 th January. For a few hours, I was dazzled by one aspect of the Press Release – that estimated GDP growth for 2021-22 (at constant prices) is 9.2% against the contraction of -7.3% in 2020-21. This means, our economy will overcome the decline of the previous year and grow by about 1.9%. The World Bank has projected a GDP of 8.3%. Anyone...
A collection of personal views on contemporary issues