"The Budget rightly decided to focus on economic growth by raising expenditure and allowing for a wider fiscal deficit in these pandemic times. Importantly, spend on capital expenditure is far higher at 2.5% of GDP vis-à-vis 1.7% last year, a move in the right direction. Domestic manufacturing is going to be a big growth engine with previous corporate tax reductions, correction of inverted duty structures and a lot more subsidy to come on the PLi front.
Besides the widely expected allocation increases to housing, infrastructure, health and textiles, the move to curb prolonged tax scrutiny and firm mindset shown to privatise certain PSUs, creation of ARCs for bad loans and monetise government land banks are steps in the right direction.
What appealed most to the stock market was the absence of moves like wealth tax or increase in LTCG on equity investments. Unless there are any devils in the fine print, the Budget has been kept simple and played the right cards.
However, bond yields are bound to harden given the extended borrowing programme of the government and inflationary expansion in the budget." |
