High Hopes From Modi Government's First Budget Thursday

NEW DELHI: Amid high expectations from the common man and corporate India, the maiden budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is expected to extend tax relief to the salaried class and unveil steps to spur investment and growth, even as fiscal situation remains fragile amid deepening Iraq crisis and high inflation.

After four years of slow growth, the promises made by Modi in his winning, high-profile campaign in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, in areas such as jobs creation, curbing price rise and reviving growth have rekindled hope that effective measures will be taken to put the Indian economy back on rails, experts and stake-holders spoke.

They looked upon the national budget, to be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in parliament, as the first major package of policy pronouncements that will give some direction on how the government intends to balance the needs of economic growth and fiscal prudence, while bringing inflation and keeping it under control.

"High expectations surround the maiden budget of the new government. People expect the budget to support growth, be anti-inflationary and committed to fiscal consolidation," said Richard Rekhy, chief executive officer, KPMG in India.

"However, it would be a challenge for the finance minister to fulfill the wishes of all stakeholders and he may have to take bold decisions to bring the sluggish economy back on track," Rekhy told.

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