“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman quoted these words of Shree Rabindranath Tagore in her last budget speech. The quote was relevant at a time when COVID-19 pushed economic growth into the dark. However, after a very successful vaccination program, and with life almost returning to normalcy, economic activity in the country has been picking up. GDP is expected to grow at historic high rates for the next two or more years, healing some of the scarrings the pandemic left behind. Before Budget 2021, the FM said she would deliver a “budget like never before.” According to experts, it was a trendsetter budget in a way. It had many plans and schemes on which the growth of this decade would be based. Also, multiple schemes have been announced in the last two years.
For Budget 2022, broadly, on one hand, there are expectations the government would focus on implementing the policies announced in the last two years. On the other hand, five states, including UP, have elections scheduled for February-March. So, we might expect a populist budget. A multitude of perks might be handed to the rural economy. As always, the FM would not have an easy task. To maintain the growth momentum, continued fiscal support is a crucial requisite. At the same time, the FM might also consider a brief fiscal consolidation to be able to bring down the center’s fiscal deficit target to 4.5% of GDP by FY26, as per the proposed glide path.
We would keep updating this blog as and when the news shall flow. You can keep visiting this Lakshmishree at this blog and check out what more you can achieve from this Budget 2022.
