Arundhati Ghosh's take on the best and worst things in Budget 2020

Has Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman steered the economy out of the woods?

Not at all. What I see marked as highlights of the Budget are all really disappointing.

Is this a populist, please-all Budget?

It really pleases no one. This Budget behaves as if the country is not facing an economic crisis. Instead, its as if its business as usual in the country.

Will it help the economy, create jobs, restart stalled projects?

I think the business sector was waiting for a splendid Budget that would stall our economic decline and turn the economy around. 

But this Budget says it expects a 10 per cent growth when currently the growth is only at 4 per cent. 

There is absolutely nothing in the Budget that even remotely suggests how that gap will be breached.  

What was the best thing about the Budget? And the worst?

There’s nothing remarkable about it. What we are seeing today is a “nobody’s Budget.” I can’t think of any particular sector that will benefit from this in any way. Even the pseudo decrease of personal income tax is a farce, because now you have to pay for dividend income once it reaches you. This is such banality, I think.