The Flip Side Of Interim Budget 2019

The Interim Budget 2019 has been prepared keeping in view certain international and national developments.

- Dr. Rajiv Khosla

A cursory look at the events that have taken place at the international front showcase a fluctuation in the prices of crude oil from $65 per barrel in April 2018 to a high of $85 per barrel in October 2018, eventually stabilising at $60 per barrel. Increase in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) from 32000 points in April 2018 to 38000 points in August 2018 and then, stabilising at 36000 points and an increase in the rate of interest by US Fed from 1.5% in May 2018 to 2.25% in December 2018 were some of the other important domestic and international economic developments.

These developments led to a decrease in foreign exchange reserves from $426 billion in April 2018 to $396 billion in January 2019 despite the fact that India’s rank in ease of doing business improved to 77 in 2018 from 100 in 2017 and corruption index improved to 78 in 2018 from 81 in 2017. On the domestic front, unachieved disinvestment proceeds ( 35000 crore against the targeted 80000 crore) along with a shortfall in GST revenue by rupees one lakh crore and gross tax revenue of 23000 crore for FY19 compounded the problems of the finance ministry. The political compulsions after losing all the five states in the assembly elections recently necessitated the pruning down of the obsession with the reduction in fiscal deficit. Under such circumstances, the stand-in Finance Minister (FM) Piyush Goyal presented a budget, which doled out sops for all - rich, poor and middle classes, workers in the unorganised sector and farmers.

Are these extended populist measures actually going to make some difference to society or are these are merely jugglery of figures? Let us examine the announcements.