India’s Union Budget 2021–22 and fiscal policy
10 February 2021
Author: Alok Sheel, ICRIER
Government expenditure is estimated to be 17.7 per cent of GDP in 2020–21, a sharp increase from 13.2 per cent in 2019–20 and 12.5 per cent in 2018–19. From a macroeconomic perspective, the focus areas are the robustness of nominal GDP and revenue growth assumptions, the budget deficit including the stimulus component and whether the stimulus is of optimal structure and scale to bolster growth. Fiscal policy is critically important in circumstances when monetary policy is constrained by impaired bank and corporate balance sheets.
The nominal GDP growth of 14.5 per cent in 2021–22 implicit in budget projections seem reasonable considering the economy is expected to rebound on the back of sharp contraction.
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India s Budget creates buzz among global investors: Mukesh Aghi, president of US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum
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India s Budget creates buzz among global investors: Mukesh Aghi, president of US-India Strategic and Partnership ForumPTI
Last Updated: Feb 09, 2021, 03:22 PM IST
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Synopsis I think they (US companies) are excited. They feel that for the first time in many, many years you have a budget which provides less government fine-tuning. It is a clearly defined budget which attracts a lot of International Investment, Aghi said.
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Aghi said the farsighted budget will put India on a trajectory of double-digit growth in the next few years.
Even as Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, unveiled India’s Union Budget for the financial year (FY) 2021-2022 in Parliament on Feb 1, there was no statement on the allocation of the defence budget, the absence of which was prominently noticeable. A thorough review of it is thus merited.
At INR 4,78,195.62 crores, the Ministry of Defence’s budget estimate for FY 2021-2022 rose by a nominal 1.4%; though in light of the pandemic-induced economic downturn and healthcare expenditure, emergency defence procurement amounting to INR 20,776 crores that India has had to make in the face of an increasingly belligerent and assertive China, and the absence of any increase in taxes or the imposition of a COVID cess, even such a bare increase should not be judged too harshly. On the contrary, defence spending stands at 13.7% of the total budget and incorporates many noteworthy changes that indicate a much-needed course correction towards a more efficient use of finances. While the budget a
Updated Feb 05, 2021 | 09:40 IST
FM Sitharaman has proposed a sharp increase in expenditure on infrastructure, doubling of healthcare spending and raising the cap on foreign investment in insurance in her third Budget for the next fiscal IMF hails India s focus on growth in Budget 2021
Washington: The IMF has welcomed India s Union Budget for focussing on growth and said fiscal policy can and should play an important role in facilitating a strong and inclusive economic recovery.
Gerry Rice, Director of Communications at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at a press conference here said the Union Budget rightly focuses on health, education, public infrastructure and, if fully implemented, can help increase India s growth potential.
Budget 2021: Reactions from the social sector
On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented India’s first-ever paperless Budget. A lot of reforms were announced on migrant labour, renewable energy, and women and child welfare. Experts from the social sector weigh in.
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Union Budget 2021-22 was a first-of-its-kind on many fronts. In addition to being the first paperless Budget, it was also the first since the pandemic forced the country into months of lockdown, which impacted not only the economy, but also the livelihoods of Indians, particularly in lower-income sections. So, it came as no surprise that there were a number of welfare schemes announced. We asked a few experts what they thought of