DNA Money Edit: No room for a populist Budget

Will the Union Budget, being presented on February 1, be populist? Some analysts and economists have shared a view that it is important to be people-friendly ahead of elections and dole out freebies and concessions in the last full Budget of the Modi government in its current tenure, in order to woo voters.

Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar has meanwhile rejected any such possibility but added that the Budget will mainly focus on improving the welfare of common man by improving basic healthcare facilities, primary education, agriculture and infrastructure.

The global rating firms, including Moody's, which raised India's sovereign rating from the lowest investment grade by a notch in November 2017 for the first time in nearly 14 years, will be closely watching the Budget. There are fiscal concerns following a decline in goods and services tax collections.

The spectrum auctions are unlikely to yield much this year while non-tax revenue has taken a hit thanks to a lower dividend from the Reserve Bank of India. Concerns about a fiscal slippage from the target of 3.2% are looming large. Bringing down fiscal deficit further to 3% by 2018-19 seems to be a tough job. Under such trying conditions, whether the government has any leg-room to make the Budget populist remains to be seen.