Budget 2020 provides 'discreet and considered' stimulus: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the budget presented by her last week provides a "discreet and considered" stimulus.

Speaking to industry representatives in the financial capital, Sitharaman said the budget draws on experiences of all the past instances of a slowdown in growth where the government has had to provide for a booster.

It can be noted that some constituencies have expressed disappointment with the budget for not having any big announcements, especially at a time when growth has slipped to a decadal low.

"Based on the experiences that we had in the last round of government trying to provide stimulus, We've essentially made sure that we are doing it in a very discreet and considered manner," Sitharaman said at the interaction.

"We kept the macroeconomic fundamentals in mind and made sure that the necessary stimulus which was the demand of the time, both for increasing consumption and also for ensuring investments in long-term asset building as a means to providing stimulus will be taken up," she added.

Accompanied by all the secretaries in the ministry, Sitharaman said unlike the past instances of providing for a stimulus, the remedies that the budget have provided are "very focused, very clear that it is going in a well chalked out path with a clear intention of spending responsibly in building capital assets".

She pointed out that the rural and farm sector had got attention through the 16-point agenda, startups have been given a fillip and infrastructure investments have also been taken up.

"The remedy is a considered remedy. I'm sure discerning people will be able to see why it is so," she said.

Sitharaman said divestments are necessary to get transparency in the working of companies by making necessary disclosures.

She added that the government will only sell those companies where it sees no strategic rationale in running those.