Budget 2013 could be positive: Sangeeta Purushottam

NEW DELHI: As the Finance Minister, P Chidamabaram starts his pre-budget consultations with industry representatives, there are many views on whether the budget this time is going to be a populist one in view of the 2014 General Elections.

Giving her view on the subject to ET Now, Sangeeta Purushottam, an independent investor said that since the elections are almost a year away, this may well be the last chance for the government to set the house in order from a fiscal point of view.

Purushottam said that there is some time before the election rhetoric starts and it is quite possible that the budget may end up being a positive surprise for markets.

Speaking about downgrade fears, Purushottam said, "A lot of momentum that we are seeing on policy reforms has partly been driven by the fact that we were staring at a possible rating downgrade, and those fears have not gone away."

Hoping for a good budget, she said, "At this stage it would be better to bet that the budget would be positive."