Balanced budget looks after all interests: Arvind Subramanian

He also welcomed the unscheduled repo cut by the RBI

Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian on Wednesday welcoming the unscheduled repo cut by the RBI, described Budget 2015-16 as a "balanced" one that makes institutional changes to spur growth without sacrificing macro-economic discipline.

"A major aspect of the budget is its balance, every budget is a political statement. This one looks after all interests and needs and has benefits especially for the poor and the middle class," Subramanian said at an interaction with the corporate world at the industry chamber FICCI.

The government last month signed a Monetary Policy Framework Agreement with the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) that says the RBI will aim to bring retail inflation below 6 percent by January 2016, and to around four percent by fiscal 2016-17.

India's central bank on Wednesday cut its key lending rates by 25 basis points, expecting inflation to soften further in the coming fiscal. The repurchase (repo) rate at which the RBI lends to commercial banks stands reduced to 7.5 percent from 7.75 percent, while the reverse repo rate has been adjusted to 6.5 percent from 6.75 percent.

"The RBI statement echoes really what we have said in the economic survey that we should still view India as a recovering economy because other indicators of activity are still relatively weak," Subramanian said earlier on Wednesday.