Union Budget 2010-11 on Feb 26 this year

NEW DELHI: The Union Budget for 2010-11 is likely to be presented on February 26, two days ahead of the conventional date. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated this to mediapersons at a lunch hosted by him at his residence on Saturday.

The annual Budget date is being advanced from the normal practice of being presented on February 28, as February 27 is a government holiday on account of Prophet Mohammad’s birthday and February 28 is a Sunday. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs is expected to approve the date soon.

Mr Mukherjee also said he was confident that India would grow at a faster pace of 7.75% in the fiscal year to March 2010 against 6.7% in the previous year. He said the economy was generally looking up and signs were good. This would be the second Budget of the United Progressive Alliance, with the first one presented in July last year after the general elections.

The Budget exercise has already been initiated by the finance ministry amid a debate on whether stimulus measures, taken to pump prime the economy hit by the global financial meltdown, should continue, and if so, for how long, as the economy returns to recovery path.