Budget touches but doesn't feel, speaks but leaves much unsaid

It missed a chance to level the field for citizens vis-a-vis large corporations even as its personal-tax relief may miss the mark

- RAJRISHI SINGHAL

Inspired by an economic slowdown and stagnant spending power, observers greeted finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's beribboned tax breaks with a combination of euphoria and hope. There was elation because tax breaks could mean more money to spend and save; there are also expectations that this time will be different, because past experience shows that good budgetary intentions can be scotched by hidden small-print or an unexpected surge in inflation.

But disappointment lay elsewhere. The budget failed to go the distance in offering taxpayers long-overdue justice by evening out the skewed power balance between individuals and the corporate sector. At the same time, it might be worth acknowledging that the near-universal appreciation of the budget's generous overture to salaried income-tax payers is also leavened with some degree of scepticism. This is because of its in-built limitations: it can perhaps reverse some of the stagnation in consumption, even while partially scoring some electoral goals in immediate elections, but does not seem designed to create a step-change in either consumption or financial savings.