FM to start holding Budget meetings after winter session

WITH THE BUDGET for 2022-23 nearing, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet stakeholders including representatives from industry, agriculture, health, education and economists after the conclusion of the Winter Session of Parliament on December 23 or even before if the session concludes ahead of schedule, sources told FE.

The budget for next fiscal year is to be presented on February 1, in the backdrop of a nascent recovery of the economy, robustness in tax receipts and the continuing need for government support via spending to aid the revival process.

While the Centre's fiscal deficit for FY22 is budgeted at 6.8% of GDP, a level much above the FRBM threshold, many analysts expect the actual deficit to remain within the target even with a clutch of additional expenditure commitments that have come up due to enhanced fertiliser subsidy bill, bolstering of free ration scheme and the tax neutralisation scheme for exports.