Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Modi govt intends to move on the reforms path to boost macroeconomic stability and growth, amid indications that the Union Budget will be presented around the third week of July, with consultations set to kick off over the next few days.
After taking charge as finance minister for a second term, Sitharaman said the govt is fully committed to ensuring ‘Ease of Living’ for its citizens and will continue to take more steps.
“She also highlighted India’s commendable growth story in recent years amid global challenges and noted that there is an optimistic economic outlook for coming years,” an official statement said.
India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy, clocking 8.2% growth during the last financial year with RBI projecting a 7.2% expansion during the current fiscal year. Faster growth also helped the Centre report a further improvement in the fiscal deficit, which was estimated at 5.6% of GDP at the end of the last financial year, raising prospects of govt improving upon the 5.1% target set for the current year when the full Budget is presented.
The finance ministry will kick off the budget exercise over the next few days, which includes consultations with govt departments and ministries, experts from various fields as well as the states. Usually, state finance ministers and the Union finance minister hold consultations on the same day as the GST Council meeting, which is expected to be convened shortly. The agenda for the meeting is, however, unclear at the moment and will be firmed up in the next few days.
