Budget 2019: The toughest balancing act for India's new finance minister

On July 5, Sitharaman makes her first major public appearance in her new role, presenting India's budget at a time when she's under pressure to spend more to reinvigorate the economy

India’s first female finance minister in almost five decades, Nirmala Sitharaman, has held a wide range of jobs: She rode aboard a fighter jet as defense minister. As head of the trade department she grappled with falling exports. She’s been a national spokeswoman for her party, and in younger days worked in London as a home decor saleswoman.

Now Sitharaman, 59, faces what might become one of the toughest balancing acts of her career. On May 31, within hours of her arrival at her new office in New Delhi, she was greeted with India’s worst economic news of the year: