Union Budget 2013: Pre-Budget meetings with P Chidambaram begin tomorrow

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P Chidambaram will start pre-Budget consultations with various stakeholders from tomorrow.

The first meeting is with agriculturalists tomorrow. It will be followed by a series of interactions with sectoral experts, industry captains and economists to get their feedback and inputs for possible incorporation in Budget 2013-14.

Chidambaram will present the Budget 2013-14 amid the economic slowdown.

The current financial year 2012-13 has been difficult for the country's economy, with growth slipping to 5.4 per cent in the first half this fiscal.

The country's current account deficit (CAD) rose to a record high of 5.4 per cent of GDP or USD 22.3 billion, in the July-September quarter of 2012-13 and fiscal deficit in the April-November period stood at Rs 4.13 lakh crore -- 80.4 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE).

In its Mid-Year Economic Analysis presented in Parliament last month, the government had lowered the growth projection for 2012-13 to 5.7-5.9 per cent from 7.6 per cent estimated earlier.

The projected growth is the lowest in a decade. In 2002-03, the economy had expanded by a mere 4 per cent.

The economic growth rate during 2011-12 had slipped to a nine-year low of 6.5 per cent because of slowing demand both globally and locally.

A wide range of issues like policy initiatives to fight sluggishness in growth, slump in industrial output and rising fiscal deficit are likely to come up for discussion in the Finance Minister's consultations with stakeholders.

Moreover, impending tax reforms like Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and Goods and Services Tax ( GST) may also figure in the discussions.