Budget 2018 highlights: No tax relief, LTCG dash middle-class, market hopes

Middle-class hopes from a "poll-bound" Budget 2018 were dashed with no change in the personal income tax structure. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced standard deduction of Rs 40,000 for salaried employees in lieu of transport and medical expenses. 

Jaitley delivered his Budget 2018 speech on Thursday, with the government focusing on the agricultural sector and farmers' income. 

Signalling that fiscal prudence has gone off track, Jaitley proposed a fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP for 2018-19. The target he had set for 2018-19 last year was 3 per cent.   

Budget 2018 has proposed