Fiscal rectitude or spending push? Budget attempts both, but half-heartedly

If more expenditure in the rural economy is the need of the hour to revive demand, it is debatable if such tax giveaways could have waited till GDP growth picks up a little

Two challenges confronted the makers of the Union Budget for 2020-21 that was presented yesterday. The government’s finances had come under stress and the Indian economy was in the grip of a slowdown. Thanks to a combination of unrealistic revenue projections and a decline in the growth rate, the government’s revenues had taken a big hit in 2019-20. Similarly, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2019-20, according to the first advance estimate, was down to 5 per cent. The latest GDP numbers for 2018-19, which were revised downwards, meant that India’s economic growth in 2019-20 looked slightly better at