Budget Back
Union Budget Expectations: What 's in whose kitty?
23-Jan-2018

  • The government is set to present the Union Budget on 1st February 2018. Expectations and excitement run high as it will be the first post-GST and last full-year budget before the General Elections in 2019. In this note we discuss four key themes.
  • First, we believe that the fiscal deficit target of 3% will be postponed. We expect the target to be revised to 3.4% for FY18 (FY18BE: 3.2%) and to 3.2% for FY19 (v/s 3% target set last year).
  • Second, capital spending will be budgeted to grow ~10% in FY19, following ~7% in FY18.
  • Third, while rural spending may be revised upward for FY18, limited financial resources will make it difficult to announce a targeted scheme for the poor.