By N R Bhanumurthy
Against the expectations, the government has presented a Budget that showed higher fiscal deficit of 9.5% in (RE) FY21 and projected a higher level of 6.8% for (BE) FY22. The revised fiscal deficit of 9.5% against the budgeted number of 3.5% indicates a larger expenditure especially with improved quality of expenditures as capital outlays have increased significantly compared to the budgeted numbers. But the most important aspect of these numbers is that of bringing in the off-budget item (food subsidy Bill that was to be paid by NSSF) into the books, which appears to be one of the most positives of this Budget. Further, the medium-term fiscal deficit target of 4.5% by 2025-26 only suggest that the government may propose a new FRBM roadmap than was suggested by the Finance Commission.
Unlike in the past couple of years, the present Budget appears to be more cautious on the revenue…