Sitharaman begins pre-budget talks

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday started pre-budget consultations with economists and agricultural experts, many of whom recommended building on the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals in the spirit of self-reliance at a time when the world faces geopolitical challenges and economic uncertainty.

- Rajeev Jayaswal

The performance of the Indian economy is outstanding as compared to major global economies, but calibrated fiscal and monetary policy interventions through annual budgets are required to keep up this momentum, people familiar with the matter cited the experts as saying. India’s retail inflation is at an eight-year low of 1.54% (September) while its real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rose to a five-quarter high of 7.8% in April-June of FY26.