New Delhi, Feb 01: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will on Monday present the Union budget- her third so far- at a time when the country's economy is recovering from the impact of coronavirus pandemic. After a series of economic packages and relief measures announced by the government last year, Sitharaman is left with limited fiscal room.

There is still the need to spend big to aid economic recovery and investors will be keenly watching how the finance minister makes that happen. With Sitharaman saying it will "be a budget like never before", expectations are already high.

"There are expectations that the government will keep aside fiscal prudence and open its pockets to spend more," said Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Mumbai-based Religare Broking Ltd, told reporters.

The Budget presentation will begin with a speech from finance minister in Parliament which is scheduled to take place at around 11 am. Before that, the Union Cabinet will hold a meeting at 10:15 am.