<b>T N Ninan: </b>A Big-Bang Budget

The meat of the proposals on the spending side are likely to have an overtly populist touch

The new year brings with it the Budget season, and the setting for the government’s next big move. Given the backdrop of demonetisation and a slowdown in the non-agricultural economy, the government should be expected to come out with a response that is a more-than-usual mixture of politics and economics. It is now widely anticipated that the government will stretch out the income tax slabs, and also raise the limit for tax-free income. Given the government’s increasingly populist stance, and the prime minister’s comments (later played down by the finance minister), one should not rule out some tweaking of the