Budget 2020
More guided by
prudence than pomp
Balaji Viswanathan
Yet again, a pretty decent
one. More guided by
prudence than pomp. By
merging the railway budget with
the union one and preponing the
dates, they have signaled some
fundamental reforms. Since India’s
financial year starts on April 1, it
gives a 2 month window from the
budget to get the execution in place.
In the past scheme of things, budget
was released by end of Feb and the
Parliament would take 2 months to
debate & approve, with the spending
going only by the end of summer.
Thus, most ministries would not be
even able to utilize the allocations
they have been given.
The most important one is that
the government has been fiscally
prudent, the third budget in a row.
Instead of going on a spending spree
to get votes, they are improving the
long term stability of the system by
not letting the deficits go up. Since
the government is spending within
limits, it is quite possible for the
RBI to cut interest rates down now
that will put more money with the
entrepreneurs and create more jobs.
To make sure the senior citizens are
not that hit with rate cuts there are
also schemes for assured interest
rates [8%] for them.
Pushing towards cashless
economy gets more teeth and
that is a central pillar with which
the government plans to increase
tax collection while reducing tax
rates. The reforms for donations to
political parties will also improve
transparency.
In keeping up with its promise
of a minimal government, the
16 February 2020 | www.smartgovernance.in