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Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
In her last full budget before the next general elections, the finance minister had something for nearly everyone. But beyond the announcements, will it really move the needle?
Editor's note: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has handed Prime Minister Narendra Modi a Union Budget that could be his bazooka in the elections to nine state assemblies this year, and for the general elections next year. Presenting the last full budget before the country goes to the polls, she has given nearly everyone something to cheer about. The markets reacted positively even as the finance minister was delivering her speech, but saw a sharp fall towards close owing to the shocks she delivered to the life insurance sector and the ongoing slide in the Adani group’s stocks. Overall, there was a sense of relief that she didn’t tinker with long-term capital gains tax. “There was no bad news,” a well-known market investor said on a business news channel. And thanks to the budget, he added, it was time to bet on stocks that were “India-facing”. Industry titans were all praise for the 33% increase in capital expenditure that is sure to boost economic activity, and add to the top line of Indian industry. “This government has been giving a huge push to …
Fiscal discipline holds on paper, but the number is propped up by higher borrowing and revenue sources that are far from stable.
Exploitation of unskilled workers is at the heart of quick-delivery service businesses in India. They should be valued for what they are and not what they pretend to be, a trait that has taken a devious form of wanting it both ways.
The economy grew strongly despite several headwinds, with the policy responses mostly fitting the need. How sustainable is the growth rate, though?
