Best of BS Opinion: The risks of minimalism, a huge bet on growth & more

Here are the top BS Opinion articles of the day

Today’s special Budget edition offers a rich range of comment from leading economists and tax experts. Here is what they have to say:

The edit points out that Nirmala Sitharaman has chosen to not rock the boat in this minimalist Union Budget but the talk of a K-shaped recovery, the lack of jobs and therefore of the need for more consumption support at the base of the pyramid has had little or no impact on the government’s thinking. Read it here

A K Bhattacharya points out that though the Budget has made public finances more transparent, its compression of revenue expenditure and rising protectionism reflect the government’s political beliefs. Read it here  

Rathin Roy analyses the macro fiscal scenario in the Budget and concludes that it shows that the fiscal crisis still cripples the Centre’s public finances. Read it here

Subhashis Gangopadhyay examines the priorities the government has set for itself and assesses how the finance minister has gone about meeting them. Read it here

V S Krishnan writes that the approach on indirect taxes is not to rock the boat and continue to boost revenues from the Goods and Services Tax. Read it here

Mukesh Bhutani and Divyasha Mathur say the Budget has picturised the landscape expected by the crypto-economy stakeholders. Read it here

Akash Prakash points out that the Budget has taken a huge bet on growth and government spending. Read it here

Shekhar Gupta explains why the Budget has not accounted for the upcoming Assembly polls; it is directed at the Parliamentary polls of 2024. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

‘I didn’t want to increase income tax during the pandemic’

 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman