R. Ramakumar

Mar 01, 2011

Experts predict good monsoon

As El Nino and La Nina are stable with no activity over the Pacific Ocean, India is expected to have a good monsoon this year.

Budget 2013-14, in a sense, had just one big objective: to cut fiscal deficit drastically and create a case for growth-promoting monetary policy intervention by the Reserve Bank of India. Let us take two time periods: 2011-12 and 2013-14. In 2011-12, the fiscal deficit was 5.9 per cent, which is projected to fall to 4.5 per cent in 2013-14.

Budgeting for a class bias

A widely heard comment on Budget 2012-13 was that it has given increased attention to the social sectors. That, clearly, is a claim overstated. Further, the meagre rise in social sector expenditure has come at a cost; the expenditure on crucial economic sectors has been cut.

Read the fine print, it’s not very nice

Budget 2011-12 marks a sharp retreat of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-2 government from the social and economic sectors. It has cut back expenditures in sectors that matter to common people, especially the poor. On the other hand, it has given huge concessions to the corporate sector in the form of tax cuts and exemptions.