Budget 2021: We have spent, we have spent and we have spent, says FM

In a post-Budget interaction with the media, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said huge spending on infrastructure and health care was a key feature of the post-Covid Budget. She also said increased spending and high market borrowings led to a significant widening of the fiscal deficit. Edited excerpts:

On govt accounts

We have made the government accounts more transparent and nothing is being pushed under the carpet.  The government's fiscal deficit has been stated upfront. We increased our spending, and borrowing was raised, leading to an increase in the fiscal deficit from 3.5 per cent to 9.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). So we have spent, we have spent, and we have spent. Otherwise, the fiscal deficit wouldn’t have