Budget 2020: Six major concerns that FM Sitharaman should address on Feb 1

Bringing down fiscal deficit to 3% in line with FRBM Act will be a major challenge for the govt

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Budget on Saturday at a time when the economic growth for FY20 is officially projected to be at a decade low, pulled down by a sharp decline in investment expansion. The Budget should have something for sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, besides ways to push up demand. However, constraints such as bringing down fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of GDP in the next financial year in line with the papers laid under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act come in the way. It is almost clear that the deficit will not be reduced to such an extent, or else the economy will struggle to recover.