Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman almost kept her promise to keep the interim budget free of any ‘spectacular announcement’. But at the same time she tried to find a good balance between prosperity and budgetary prudence. The Budget speech was peppered with a number of people-friendly announcements such as the middle class housing plan. And it also promised to reduce the fiscal deficit to 5.1% of GDP by FY25. So is this budget more than an interim budget? Find out in the first episode of today’s special show on interim Budget.
Here’s what experts have to say about the interim budget. Now let’s see what Business standardthinks its own crack team. They provide us with a sectoral analysis of this budget statement. Let’s see if it checks all the right buttons.
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The government’s aggressive budget targets are setting the bond markets on fire. Ten-year government bond yields fell by as much as 10 basis points after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced lower-than-expected budget deficits and credit figures. So will the government’s budget glide path provide the necessary balm for bonds, and therefore also for the stock markets?
The wage class, meanwhile, was a little disappointed as the FM kept rates unchanged. But they can now pin their hopes on the full budget to be presented in July. And at around 58 minutes, it was perhaps Nirmala Sitharaman’s shortest budget speech. But it certainly packed a punch. Listen to this episode of the podcast for some key numbers that caught newsmakers’ attention and more.
First print: February 2, 2024 | 08:00 IST