With a few lollipops here and there and some clever jugglery of numbers, our finance minister seems to have made a favourable impression on the media and the general public. True I myself have benefited from the budget through the rise in the peak income tax slab. But if fiscal prudence was the theme of the budget, Mr Mukherjee should not have cut income tax. He should have raised it. And if tax rationalisation was what he was trying to achieve, he should have removed, not added exemptions. He should also have shown more commitment to the GST( Goods and Services Tax) framework.
Mr Mukherjee has tried to paint a rosy fiscal picture by making some unrealistic and convenient assumptions such as heavy inflows due to disinvestment of PSUs and also cellphone license revenues. But if the opposition politicians could make such a hue and cry in Parliament about a small hike in the price of petrol/diesel, will the Congress Party really have the stomach to push through PSU divestment? And will license revenues be all that much as projected?
Watch out for more in my blogs starting from tomorrow.
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