Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her sixth Budget on February 1. This was an interim budget as the general elections are scheduled later this year in India. The Interim Budget 2024 was focused on youth and women empowerment, while maintaining fiscal consolidation and continuing capex. The finance minister lowered down FY25 fiscal deficit target to 5.1% of the GDP. Also, there were no changes made to the direct tax and indirect tax rates.
Post-Budget Press Conference Lists Several Key Takeaways
From fiscal deficit target and government capex to her message to rating agencies, here are 10 key takeaways from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s post-budget press conference.
1] Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stressed on 5 ‘Disha Nirdashak’ baatein: Social justice as an effective governance model; Focus on the poor, youth, women, and the annadata (farmers); Focus on infrastructure; Use of technology to improve productivity and high-power committee for challenges arising from demographic challenges.
2] India has had three consecutive years of 7% GDP growth and is the fastest growing economy in G20.
3] GDP is Government, Development and Performance. We have delivered on Development and have better managed the economy. We are bringing down the fiscal deficit despite very challenging times.
4] Capex from the government will continue, it is important to continue it, FM said.
5] India- Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) Project will be be taken forward despite disturbances in Red Sea.
6] The withdrawal of 1.1 crore outstanding small direct tax demands for certain years will cost less than ₹3,500 crore to the exchequer, said Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra.
7] No extension of lower tax rate to new manufacturing units coming into place after March 2024, said Finance Minister Sitharaman.
8] Do not have a fixed target for disinvestment in FY25, said DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey.
9] We are not only aligning with the fiscal consolidation path given earlier, but we are also bettering it, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her message to credit rating agencies.
10] The relevance of the target to reduce the Centre’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 40% was set before COVID-19 period and now has to be examined, said Finance Secretary TV Somanathan.
Focusing on a key point in this budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman elaborated on 5 ‘Disha Nirdashak’ points:
- Social justice as an effective governance model.
- Focus on the poor, youth, women, and ‘annadata’ (farmers).
- Focus on infrastructure.
- Use of technology to improve productivity.
- High power committee for challenges arising from demographic challenges.
We Have Used The Last 10 Years To Empower Every Individual Says Union Minister Piyush Goyal
“PM Modi has always believed that when we strengthen the common man’s ability to contribute to the national economy, the country will go forward faster… We have used the last 10 years to empower every individual in the country with all the basic needs of life so that they can be aspirational for the future and they can contribute to a developed India,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal said.
“Today, the finance minister has given us the roadmap of how 140 crore Indians will contribute to making India a developed nation and taking prosperity to the last man at the bottom of the pyramid… It is a budget which along with continuity also is visionary,” the Union Minister added.
She commented on the India- Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor. “Well, it’s been announced and we are taking it forward. Yes, there is a significant disturbance in the Red Sea area and the Middle East. But this is a project which has long-term implications for the entire region, region up to Europe, because it also includes Europe. So, yes, we will be taking this project forward. We will be consulting and taking it in all its contours,” Nirmala Sitharaman said in a post-Budget press conference.
India has had three consecutive years of 7% GDP growth and is the fastest growing economy in G20, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her post-Budget press conference.
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