Giving away powers is the idea behind liberalisation, says Arun Jaitley

In a Q&A with Doordarshan, Jaitley discusses how he chose the areas on which he would spend more

Can you tell us about the central philosophy of the Budget principles?

The Budget has to be linked to the present context. What does the economy need? We are strong on three grounds: Public investment, a lot of FDI (foreign direct investment), and — but for the demonetisation period — increased consumer spending. And, the sowing of crops is good, so the yields will be better.

Our weakness is the private sector and that the banks still struggling. I had to spend more. Now, do I just increase the number of schemes, or pick up the most successful areas and