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Op-ED FEBRUARY 11, 2022 | The Indian Eye 14

The Good, The BAd And

The uGly of BudGeT 2022

Views and opinions from the top commentators in Indian media

he Budget speech this year had
a fundamentally different tone
Tthan all the past ones in that it
did not mention any benefits targeted
at specific groups such as the Sched-
uled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs,
women, widows or the elderly. The
only exception proving the rule was
a small benefit for differently abled
children. The speech instead focused
on the development of specific sec-
tors and specific regions.
The implicit view taken by the
finance minister seems to be that
specific schemes for specific groups
already exist and the scarce time of
the Parliament and the nation must
be devoted to outlining the road
map of development, which is for
everyone. So, development is what
got the FM’s undivided attention.
This was particularly admirable at a
time when many pundits were pre-
dicting the speech to be a laundry
list of giveaways to every conceivable
group in view of the impending elec-
tions in five states. Railway porters watch the live telecast of Union Budget 2022-23 on a mobile phone outside the Patna Railway Station in Bihar on Tuesday (ANI)
-- Arvind Panagariya,
The Times of India
Externally, the oil price is on the India has seen one of the biggest GDP. Next year’s fiscal deficit is go-
rise, with many expecting it to reach increases in the number of poor and ing to be 6.4% of GDP, much higher
he budget, by doing nothing $100 per barrel soon. The Modi gov- hungry people in the world in recent than expected. The interest burden
either for alleviating distress
Tor for reviving the economy, ernment, whose revenue comes sub- years. The data on employment are has grown almost 40% in just two
stantially from taxing petro-products, horrific, especially for a country that
years; about half of India’s taxes now
shows not just a lack of concern; it
is dangerous because all indications will then have to pass on the higher was supposed to gain from a demo- go to paying off interest on the gov-
graphic dividend. Private investment
ernment’s debt.
import price to the consumers for
point to a worsening of the situation fear of losing revenue otherwise, is sluggish despite the massive and The government’s response?
because of both internal and external
developments. Internally, whatev- which will only exacerbate domestic repeated incentives being thrown the Squeeze spending on everything ex-
inflation. What is more, the near-ze-
way of some big corporates. Public
cept infrastructure. There’s a clear
er recovery has occurred in 2021-22 ro interest rate policy pursued in the spending during the pandemic has and coherent principle behind this
relative to 2019-20 has not touched US and elsewhere till now, which been miserly and very inadequate, strategy, one that India’s Finance
real consumption expenditure, which had enabled India to access global making India an outlier even among Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spelled
continues to be below its 2019-20 lev-
el. The level of capacity utilization in financial flows easily for balancing other middle-income countries. This out in her speech to Parliament. The
has deprived most Indians of their
private sector is not investing, so the
its external payments, is coming to
consumer goods sectors, therefore, an end because of the acceleration of basic socio-economic rights and es- public sector has to do so and hope
cannot be higher than in 2019-20. In
fact, since there has been some addi- inflation there. sential public services during a pe- that “crowds in” a virtuous cycle of
investment and growth. The only
riod of health crisis and economic
-- Prabhat Patnaik, Indian Express
tion to capacity meanwhile, because devastation. problem is that the government has
of the lagged effect of investment he finance minister and her -- Jayati Ghosh, The Telegraph (India) been trying this very trick for over
decisions taken earlier, unutilized ca- ministry have betrayed, once five years and it still hasn’t worked.
pacity in these sectors has obviously Tagain, their lack of understand- he federal borrowing program,
increased, which means that invest- ing of the Indian economy or the con- at over $200 billion in the com- -- Mihir Sharma, The Print
ment will come down, and its mul- ditions under which most Indians are Ting financial year (which starts Every week, we look at what the top
tiplier effects on consumption will living today. Despite attempts to ‘talk on April 1 in India), is likely to strain commentators in the Indian media are
make it shrink further. This recovery, up’ the supposed recovery, the econ- financial markets. Meanwhile, debt talking about and bring to you a slice
therefore, unlike what the Economic omy is weak and most people are has soared since the pandemic began of their opinions and comments
Survey predicts, cannot last. hurting. and now hovers at around 90% of
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