REUTERS - India will meet a "challenging" fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the year to March 31, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday, when presenting the government's full-year budget.
Here are the highlights of Jaitley's budget for the fiscal year that begins on April 1.
FISCAL DEFICIT
* Fiscal deficit seen at 3.9 pct of GDP in 2015/16
* Will meet the challenging fiscal target of 4.1 pct of GDP
* Remain committed to meeting medium term fiscal deficit target of 3 pct of GDP
* Current account deficit below 1.3 percent of GDP
* Jaitley says have to keep fiscal discipline in mind despite need for higher investment
GROWTH
* GDP growth seen at between 8 pct and 8.5 pct y/y
* Aiming double digit growth rate, achievable soon
INFLATION
* Expects consumer inflation to remain close to 5 percent by March, opening room for more monetary policy easing
POLICY REFORMS
* Allocates 346.99 billion rupees for rural employment guarantee scheme in 2015/16
* To bring a new bankruptcy code in 2015/16
TAXATION
* Expects to implement goods and services tax by April 2016
INFRASTRUCTURE
* Will need to build additional 100,000 km of road
SUBSIDIES
* We are committed to subsidy rationalisation based on cutting leakages
(Compiled by Tony Tharakan and Rupam Jain Nair in NEW DELHI)
