Largely transparent, but political

Finally, the Budget for 2022-23 has returned to its agenda for protectionism in the name of creating a self-reliant India

From the point of view of India’s public finances, the Union Budget for 2022-23 has stuck to the Modi government’s tried-and-tested formula of following the pre-determined glide path of fiscal consolidation, at least as far as the Centre is concerned. From 9.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020-21, the fiscal deficit in 2021-22 was to have declined to 6.8 per cent. The revised estimate of the deficit for the current year is now placed at 6.9 per cent. And for 2022-23, the deficit would be brought down to 6.4 per cent. This is still about two percentage