Letter to BS: Budget may stick to fiscal rectitude ahead of Lok Sabha polls

This refers to “Budget may stick to fiscal rectitude” by Arup Roychoudhury (December 31). It is going to be a tough challenge for the finance minister (FM) to continue the theme of fiscal consolidation in his February 1 speech. Even if it is an interim budget — the proverbial blind spot in terms of a future fiscal road map — the government will have no idea about the expected fourteenth finance commission recommendations by that time. It will be hard for the FM to balance the need to be fiscally conservative and electoral realities. Having said that, Arun Jaitley  —