Second Budget of NDA government was pragmatic, directional and focused

Dr. Arun Singh, Senior Economist, Dun & Bradstreet, India

"The 2nd budget of the NDA government was pragmatic, directional and focused. The budget was well balanced for the social sector and the corporate sector. Postponing the achievement of 3.0% fiscal deficit target to make space for more public investment is admirable as India is still on its recovery phase. Moreover, the budget is laudable on many fronts. The comprehensive universal social security system - from Jan-Dhan to Jan-Suraksha, monetisation of Gold, plug and play model for infrastructure projects, curbs placed on the flow of black money, introducing bankruptcy code from FY16 and stated time for implementation of GST will help in installing business and investor confidence. The government's focus on ease of doing business and boosting entrepreneurship instills hope for a stronger revival of the industrial sector. With more devolution to the states, India's growth story in the coming years will be clearly rewritten by the states. The areas of discomfort in the budget are the shift from the direct tax bucket to an indirect tax bucket which might impede the tax buoyancy of the government to meet the fiscal deficit, the comparative low focus on agriculture and lack of reference to food and fertiliser subsidy."

Source : Equity Bulls

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