Page 21 - 28FEB2019E

budget

• Infra boost Infrastructure gets major push
due to spending hike in airports, railways, etc.

country witnessed its best phase of
macro-economic stability during the
last five years. “We are the fastest grow-
ing major economy in the world with
an annual average GDP growth during
last five years higher than the growth
achieved by any Government since
economic reforms began in 1991. From
being the 11th largest economy in the
world in 2013-14, we are today the 6th
largest in the world”, the finance minis-
ter asserted in his Opening Remarks of
his Budget speech.
He said that due to such a stable and
predictable regulatory regime, grow-
ing economy and strong fundamentals,
India could attract massive amount
of as much as $239 billion of Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) during the
last 5 years, when most of the FDI was
allowed to come in through the auto-
matic route. Announcing an allocation
of 60,000 crores for MGNREGA for
Inflation Home owners, who Budget Estimates 2019-20, the minister
The finance minister said that the gov- said that additional allocations will be
ernment has been successful in bring- have been earning made, if required.
ing down average inflation to 4.6 per
cent over last five years, which is lower rental income too Fiscal deficit
than the inflation during the tenure of have something to The Interim Budget 2019-20 has pegged
any other Government. In fact Inflation the fiscal deficit for the year 2019-20 at
in December 2018 was down to 2.19 cheer about. The 3.4 per cent of GDP. While presenting
per cent only. Goyal said if we had not threshold limit for the Interim Budget 2019-20 in Parlia-
controlled inflation, our families would ment today, Union Minister for Finance,
have been spending around 35-40 per TDS on rental income Corporate Affairs, Railways and Coal,
cent more today on basic necessities has been increased Shri Piyush Goyal said, “The estimate of
such as food, travel, consumer durables, incomes and expenditure which I am
housing etc. The average rate of infla- to 2.4 lakh presenting today, pegs the fiscal deficit
tion during previous five years 2009- of year 2019-20 at 3.4 per cent of GDP.”
2014 was a backbreaking 10.1 per cent, Goyal said in his Speech, “We would
he pointed out. central taxes, which we accepted in the have maintained fiscal deficit at 3.3 per
The fiscal deficit has been brought true spirit of cooperative federalism, cent for year 2018-19 and taken further
down to 3.4 per cent in 2018-19 RE from thereby transferring significantly high- steps to consolidate fiscal deficit in year
the high of almost 6 per cent seven er amounts to the States”, Goyal said. 2019-20. However, considering the
years ago, the Finance Minister men- need for income support to farmers, we
tioned. He said the Current Account Growth and FDI have provided 20,000 crore in 2018-
Deficit (CAD), against a high of 5.6 per Goyal stated that a stage for high 19 RE and 75,000 crore in 2019-20
cent six years ago, is likely to be only growth in decades to come, has now BE. If we exclude this, the fiscal deficit
2.5 per cent of GDP this year. “We con- been set, after a wave of next genera- would have been less than 3.3 per cent
tained the fiscal deficit notwithstand- tion path breaking structural reforms for 2018-19 and less than 3.1 per cent for
ing the Finance Commission’s recom- over the last five years, including in- year 2019-20.” The Macro-Economic
mendations increasing the share of the troduction of Goods and Services Tax Framework Statement says that the
States from 32 per cent to 42 per cent in (GST) and other taxation reforms. The Revenue deficit in 2018-19 was budg-

Tehelka / 28 february 2019 21 www.Tehelka.com