Guest Author03 Apr 2016, 18:24
It will be a grave injustice if we do not mention the backdrop in which FM has to present the budget. The FM has a difficult task of meeting twin objectives – sticking to the path of Fiscal consolidation and increasing public investment. Also, the country has suffered from poor monsoons in previous two years contributing to agrarian distress. Most of the economic indicators are in red and even there is a global slowdown. The CPI is around 5.5% but the WPI is -0.9%. The GDP Deflator is also negative. The Index of Industrial Productivity is also falling to -1.3%. The burden of the Seventh Pay Commission and the One Rank One Pension also adds to this. In such a scenario, one thing is certain, you have to be a magician to appease all the sections of society.