Union Budget 2024: Finance minister stays on fiscal consolidation path despite election year
The Budget pegs fiscal deficit at 5.1 percent, raises capex to Rs 11.1 lakh crore as tax receipts stay buoyant.
The Budget pegs fiscal deficit at 5.1 percent, raises capex to Rs 11.1 lakh crore as tax receipts stay buoyant.
Hear from Abheek Barua of HDFC Bank, Krishnan Sankarasubramaniam of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Tarun Chugh of Bajaj Allianz Life, and Manish Shah of Godrej Capital on the intersection of fiscal strategies, private capex dynamics, poverty line redefinition, and crucial interventions for MSMEs.
Hear from Abheek Barua of HDFC Bank, Krishnan Sankarasubramaniam of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Tarun Chugh of Bajaj Allianz Life, and Manish Shah of Godrej Capital on the intersection of fiscal strategies, private capex dynamics, poverty line redefinition, and crucial interventions for MSMEs.
In the third episode of ETBFSI’s Union Budget 2024 series, BFSI leaders discuss managing Fiscal Deficit and Healthcare challenges to revitalising private investments. Know the Credit-Deposit Ratio's nuanced role, offering a comprehensive roadmap for unlocking India's economic potential in the forthcoming budgetary landscape.
In the third episode of ETBFSI’s Union Budget 2024 series, BFSI leaders discuss managing Fiscal Deficit and Healthcare challenges to revitalising private investments. Know the Credit-Deposit Ratio's nuanced role, offering a comprehensive roadmap for unlocking India's economic potential in the forthcoming budgetary landscape.
Former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar predicts that the Indian economy will grow at around 6.5% in the current fiscal year due to the reforms implemented by the government. He believes that India needs to achieve 8% economic growth to meet the aspirations of its young population and generate sufficient jobs. Kumar also highlights the positive macroeconomic situation, including manageable current account deficit, sufficient foreign exchange reserves, and increased tax revenues.
In the face of a downbeat global growth outlook and a busy domestic election calendar, it would be prudent to pursue fiscal consolidation in the upcoming Union Budget for 2023, according to Radhika Rao of DBS Bank Singapore.
External headwinds for the Indian economy are currently nearing their peak as central banks near the end of their rate hike cycle amid moderating global inflationary pressures. With recession looming, weakening global demand is likely to weigh heavily on India’s exports, which has lent significant support to the external sector through the pandemic.
Accordingly, industry watchers have estimated the FY23 fiscal deficit target to range from 5.8-6.4%.
The budget's emphasis on capital expenditure marks a noteworthy shift, and higher investment in India's physical infrastructure can help to raise investment potential and competitiveness in the economy over time, say economists.
Before the pandemic broke out, states have budgeted their consolidated gross fiscal deficit at 2.8% of GDP in 2020-21 with about half of the states having budgeted the ratio at or above the 3% threshold.