In the context of a difficult global situation and the stress of two successive bad monsoons in India, I think the Finance Minister delivered reasonable budget proposals. The best feature of the budgetwas sticking to the fiscal deficit figure of 3.5 per cent of the GDP.

With the containment of the fiscal deficit for the next year, I do hope that the Reserve Bank Governor will now find it credible that inflation is under control and see it fit to reduce the repo reverse repo rate by 50 basis points. The proposals for agricultural reforms, rural electrification, social sector reformsand allowing shops to stay open seven days a week, are extremely welcome and will add to economic growth. The provision in the Real Estate Sector for affordable housing, housing finance deduction, rental income and elimination of dividend distribution tax on REITS will be beneficial.

In my mind, the additional personal tax on dividends above the ₹10 lakh limit may lead to lower investment in the long term stock market, as illustrated by past examples.

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