Interim Budget: 10 Things to watch out for

Interim finance minister Piyush Goyal will present this government’s last budget today before the country heads for elections. His speech may pack a bigger punch than the typical poll-year vote-on-account. Here’s a pre-budget primer:


1 FISCAL DEFICIT
Will pre-election populism derail fiscal consolidation?

2 INCOME TAX RELIEF
No interim budget has done this, but will this one give something to the middle class?

3 UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME
Will the govt announce an income transfer scheme?

4 FARM PACKAGE
Apart from UBI, will the government announce a separate farm package?

5 JOB CONCERNS
Given the debate on job creation, will the govt announce measures to boost employment?

6 SUBSIDIES AND MGNREGA
Will government pare subsidies or MGNREGA allocation to create room for universal basic income?

7 DISINVESTMENT
Will disinvestment target be raised to meet greater social spending?

8 NEW TAXES AND/OR SURCHARGE
Will govt levy new taxes or cesses to meet UBI spending?

9 RBI DIVIDEND
Will govt budget a one-time big payment from RBI?

10 CAPITAL SPENDING
Will a bigger social outlay dent capital creation?