Musings on the upcoming Union Budget

This year’s Union Budget is bound to be more interesting considering the recent backdrop behind its inception.

Foremost lies the consideration of a frail world economy underpinned by an unpredictable US, with Donald Trump as the new President. Internally, India is still estimating the consequences of demonetization while the country’s corporate sector is despondent, deterring fresh investments. To top it all, the budget, to be unveiled on February 1, falls only three days ahead of the elections, with all eyes especially focused on the coveted state of UP. Undoubtedly, the stakes are stacked much higher than ever before in recent times.

In his fourth budget presentation so far, it would be interesting to see what finance minister Arun Jaitley comes up with. Would we see politics taking over economic concerns or vice versa? Or, would it be a tactful pie of both?

For it to be near perfection the budget would definitely need to redress the apparent hurdles in the economy. This would mean, besides addressing investment concerns, ensuring jobs-friendly economic impetus. It remains quite implausible that the budget would centre on the egalitarian initiatives revolving around the upcoming elections.