Budget 2016: Fiscal Framework: Review medium-term fiscal stance

Fiscal hawks might not like it but the Budget 2016 has made a case for reviewing the medium-term fiscal framework in the upcoming Budget News. It, however, has argued that there were “good” arguments for both relaxing the fiscal deficit target and keeping it.

The framework mandates the government to cut its fiscal deficit to 3.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) next financial year and 3 per cent by 2017-18 from the targeted 3.9 per cent in the current financial year.

Budget 2016: Subsidies: Plug subsidy leaks to help fiscal consolidation

If lower tax rate is equivalent to subsidising, the National Democratic Alliance government is clearly targeting the 'well-off' segment of the population. Unlike the previous years, the Budget 2016 has dealt with the issue of subsidy by giving only a box on petroleum subsidies, while devoting a chapter with nine-and-a-half pages to 'Bounties for the Well-Off'.

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Budget 2016: Economic Survey pegs FY17 GDP growth at 7-7.75%

The #EconomicSurvey2016 , tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday, pegged India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 7-7.75 per cent next financial over this year. The upper part of the range  given in the Survey is slightly higher than the 7.6 per cent, officially pegged for the current financial year, while the lower part is way down.

The Survey was hopeful that the economy could clock eight per cent economic growth in a couple of years due to reform measures initiated by the government.