Page 24 - Budget

No major problem with central govt finances: RBI governor Shaktikanta Das

Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said the RBI does not see "any major problem" or any other worries with the central government finances. The government has promised to stick to the fiscal deficit targets laid down in the budget as part of the consolidation roadmap, Das told reporters at the RBI headquarters at the customary post-policy press conference. Replying to a specific question on the state of government finances, Das said, "So far as central government finances are concerned, I do not see any major problem or anything that you know that worries the central bank". He said the government is, by and large, sticking to the fiscal consolidation roadmap after the end of the pandemic, which had seen some expansion because of the high spending. Even during the pandemic, the government's spending was "calibrated and targeted", Das noted. "After the pandemic, the government has announced a fiscal consolidation roadmap. And by and large, they're sticking to that," he said. The ..

Securities transaction tax collection likely to go past Budget target

Collection in H1 over 50% of BE of Rs 27,625 cr

Delhi budget: Govt begins preparing revised estimates for 2023-24

The Delhi government has begun preparing the budget estimate for the 2024-25 fiscal and the revised estimate for 2023-24 and directed all departments to furnish realistic targets. In a circular to all the departments on September 25, the Finance Department said that the departments should send the estimates by October 13 in prescribed format. "The Finance Department has initiated the process of preparation of the Revised Estimates (RE) for 2023-24 and Budget Estimates (BE) for 2024-25," read the circular. It also said meetings regarding budget estimates and revised estimates will start from the last week of October. "Revised Estimates/Budget Estimates should be formulated taking a realistic assessment of the requirement of funds which can be utilized by the department during the financial year," it said while highlighting some of the discrepancies which have continued to occur in framing of Budget Estimates by the departments. According to the circular, it has been noticed earlier

States, UTs to raise Rs 2.37 trn in Q3FY24 through market borrowings: RBI

Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA, said the indicative borrowing amount for Q3FY24 is broadly along expected lines

Preventing the mistakes of 2019

Interim Budget projections for 2024-25 should conform to standard practices of transparency, pragmatism and caution

Pre-Budget consultations to start from 10 October 2023, says govt

The department of economic affairs has asked the ministries to ensure that their data for the pre-Budget discussion is ready and filed by October 5

Corporate tax collections seen in line with budget estimates: Ajay Seth

Corporate tax collections between April and July fell 10% to 1.76 trillion Indian rupees ($21.20 billion) from a year earlier, government data showed

India looked upon as leader in child, gender-responsive budgeting: Unicef

UNICEF India representative Cynthia McCaffrey has said the country is being looked upon as a leader in child and gender-responsive budgeting, especially in South Asia. She hailed India and Madhya Pradesh for making great progress in making plans and budgets child-responsive. "Child responsive budgeting is a strategy to integrate national and state development plans and budgets with child rights commitments. India today is looked upon as a leader in child and gender-responsive budgeting, especially in South Asia, McCaffrey said. She was addressing the inaugural conference on evidence-based social and economic development here organized by Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (AIGGPA), Government of Madhya Pradesh, in partnership with UN agencies on Tuesday, an official said. "On behalf of UNICEF, I would like to commend the Madhya Pradesh government under the leadership of Chief Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) and AIGGPA for convening this important

Uttarakhand assembly presents supplementary budget of Rs 11,321 crore

A supplementary budget of approximately Rs 11,321 crore for 2023-24 was tabled in the Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday, proposing the largest allocations for drinking water and infrastructure development projects in the state. This is the state's first supplementary budget for the current fiscal. The amount of Rs 11,321 crore includes approximately Rs 3,530 crore of revenue expenditure and Rs 7,791 crore of capital expenditure. Tabling the budget in the House, state finance minister Premchand Agarwal said as in the past this budget too makes provisions for projects dedicated to people's welfare. The highest allocation of Rs 765 crore has been made in the budget for the Jal Jeevan Mission followed by Rs 600 crore for infrastructure-related works, Rs 321 crore for strengthening of infrastructure under the housing and urban development department and Rs 156 crore for the acquisition of land for the construction of a ring road around Tehri lake. A budgetary provision of Rs 100 crore

Rethinking growth

The economy will not grow in a socially desirable direction on its own

FinMin initiates Budgetary exercise for 2024; seeks inputs from ministries

The Finance Ministry has initiated the process to prepare the interim Budget for 2024-25 by inviting inputs on expenditure from different ministries and departments. It will be an interim Budget as the elections for the Lok Sabha are due early next year. The full Budget for FY25 will be presented after the formation of the new government after the general elections. "Pre-budget meetings chaired by Secretary (Expenditure) shall commence in the second week of October 2023...shall continue till around mid-November, 2023," according to the Budget Circular (2024-25) of the Budget Division under the Department of Economic Affairs of the Finance Ministry. According to the circular dated September 1, financial advisers should ensure that the necessary details required should be submitted by October 5, 2023. The Budget Estimates for 2024-25 will be provisionally finalised after completion of pre-Budget meetings, it said. During the pre-budget meetings, the requirement of funds for all ...

K'taka to spend Rs 52k cr annually on 5 key promises, to benefit 13 mn

Seeking to highlight the Congress party's poll promises, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said approximately Rs 52,000 crore would be spent annually for the five key poll 'guarantees' and it is expected to benefit 1.3 crore families. Presenting the 2023-2024 budget, with an outlay of over Rs 3.27 lakh crore, in the Legislative Assembly, he said through the five 'guarantees' (poll promises), the government will be providing an average additional financial assistance of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 a month to each household. The five 'guarantees' related to free bus travel for women, 200 units of free electricity, 10 kilograms of free foodgrains to the poor, Rs 2,000 for the woman head of the house and unemployment benefit of up to Rs 3,000. According to some political analysts, these pre-poll promises found resonance with the electorate leading to the Congress' resounding victory in the Assembly elections. In the polls to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress bagged 135 seats

Top headlines: I-T lens on reporting entities, rupee to face headwinds

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

Iraq president ratifies record $152 bn budget, IMF says 'too rosy'

Iraq's president on Wednesday approved a record USD 152 billion budget that the parliament voted on earlier this month and which adds about half a million public sector jobs. Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid ratified the budget, which has a projected deficit of USD 48 billion. Parliament last week voted on the draft, six months into the fiscal year and after months of negotiations. The main sticking point during the talks was the distribution of oil revenue between the central government in Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region in the north. The approved draft consolidates Baghdad's authority over the oil sector and allocates 12.6 per cent of the revenue to the Kurdish region. The Iraqi Kurdish local government will be allowed to sell its own oil but will have to deposit the revenue first in a bank account that officials from the central government can monitor. Baghdad will then deduct that amount from its monthly allocation to the Kurdish regional government and ..

IMF criticises Pakistan's tax scheme, calls budget 'missed opportunity'

The IMF on Wednesday said that the proposed budget missed the opportunity to broaden the tax base

Pakistan budget targets 'artificial, non-realistic': Imran Khan's party

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's party leaders have criticised the budget announced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, describing it as artificial and unrealistic, and accused him of figure fudging of Rs 1 trillion in the amount of interest payments and non-tax revenue. The Pakistan government on Friday unveiled a Rs 14.4 trillion budget for 2023-24 as it battled to fend off a looming default due to shrinking foreign reserves. Dar, who presented the budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said the government will target a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in the coming fiscal year.

Merging railway budget with Union budget 'major blunder' of NDA govt: Moily

In the wake of the Odisha railway tragedy, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said the clubbing of the railway budget with the Union budget in 2017 was a "major blunder" of the NDA government and called for bringing back the practice of having separate budgets. Taking a swipe at the government, Moily said they are talking of bullet trains when the basics have not been rectified nor sufficient modernisation and technology has been put in place. "The clubbing of Railway Budget with the Union Budget has lost the focus on the railways. It is a major blunder committed by the NDA government. Mere focus on high-speed trains without taking into account safety and modernisation is a step in haste. It is necessary to go back to the Railway Budget," the former Union minister said in a statement. He also demanded that Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw should tender his resignation on moral grounds. Faster rail movement and vast network deserves sound operational ecosystem which

Pakistan's budget proposals: OICCI asks govt to abolish super tax

As cash-strapped Pakistan struggles to increase tax base, the Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce & Industries (OICCI) has asked the government to abolish super tax and bring trade, services, real estate and agriculture sector into the tax net in line with their share in the economy, a media report said on Monday. The OICCI - which serves as a platform to promote foreign investments into Pakistan - presented its taxation proposals for 2023-24 budget to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the News International reported. "The OICCI recommended the abolishment of super tax for all sectors and capping the corporate tax rate at 29 per cent. It suggested that no further increase in effective tax rate should be made as it is already greater than the regional competitive rates, the paper reported. The general rate for minimum tax should be reduced to 0.25 per cent and carry forward of minimum tax credit be allowed for at least 5 years as prior to 2022, recommended the OICCI. The overseas ...

After Budget session washout, Oppn is trying various strategies to unite

Congress could be veering around to the view that an attack on the government, based on charges of cronyism, may be neither lasting nor forceful enough to ensure buy-in from the rest of Opposition

Rs 70,000 cr corridor for tribal dominated region in Budget 2023-24: Govt

To push rail infrastructure and connectivity in tribal dominated regions, the detailed project report of a new line "Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor" -- provided in the Union Budget for FY 2023-24 -- has been taken up, the government informed Lok Sabha on Wednesday. In a written reply, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the DPRs of the projects identified under the corridor, costing Rs 70,000 crore, including those falling fully or partly in Odisha have been taken up which includes consultations with various stakeholders including state governments, public representatives, and organisations/rail users/tribal people etc among others. "In order to push the rail infrastructure in tribal dominated regions and to promote the rail connectivity in such regions in coming years, an umbrella work of new line as 'Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor' costing Rs 70,000 crore has been provided in the Budget for FY 2023-24 subject to requisite government approvals. "Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the ...