ROAD TO RECOVERY

brother has a startup, is he not belonging to the middle class? Today, I have announced passport for ease, isn’t it for middle class? So, middle class across the sector has been benefited by the Budget. See across the board.”

The stock markets endorsed the Budget, and closed 848.4 points (1.46%) up, although the bond markets were roiled by the government’s announcement of a higher borrowing and a higher-than-expected fiscal deficit target for 2022-23.

To be sure, the government’s estimates for 2022-23 appear to be on the conservative side, assuming nominal growth of just 11.1%.

It assumed 14.4% in 2021-22, a year when actual nominal growth was 17.6%, resulting in buoyant tax revenue. That may mean that it could better its fiscal deficit target.

The capex outlay in this Budget, at ₹7.5 lakh crore, is the highest ever in India. Analysts said much will depend on the government’s ability to actually spend this huge sum of money, and also the implementation of projects.

“This is a capex-led growthoriented budget with a strong focus on building self-reliance in the industrial products and capital good sector. We are hopeful that the timely implementation of these initiatives will pump-prime the economy…,” said Sudipta Ghosh, partner at PwC India.

The Budget included taxing any gains on crypto income at 30%, one of the highest rates among major economies, and a mandatory 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on any crypto transaction. The move gives some clarity to a long-watched indication of how India might treat the trading of cryptocurrencies and gains from other crypto-based assets like nonfungible tokens (NFT).

“This Budget proposes several near-term and long-term actions accordingly,” Sitharaman said in her speech.