Often, Budget speeches are political statements — more so, with impending general elections. There is a lot less to expect from an interim Budget. The Finance Minister’s Budget speech was short in substance and loud in claiming credit for the decade of supposedly spectacular growth, moderate inflation, and a record of social welfare.
Positives in the Budget
What are the positives? The Budget statement attributed post-COVID growth revival to public infrastructure investment and proposes to continue the same in the coming year with a 11% rise in capital expenditure. However, the government proposes a moderate expansion in public investment as it claims that private investment has revived. Moderating public investment, in principle, is expected to free up resources for the private sector, preventing “crowding-out” (displacing) of private investment.
