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FM Sitharaman to present Modi 2.0 govt's first Budget today

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New Delhi, July 5: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would present first Union Budget since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was voted back to power for a second term in office today. The Finance Minister will begin her budget speech at 11 am at Parliament on Friday (July 5).

With the opposition parties questioning Modi government's handling of the economy during first term during the election campaign, all eyes would be on the budget.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

The focus would particularly be on what steps are taken to address the unemployment problem and lesser than expected GDP growth rate recorded in the last fiscal. India's GDP slipped to 5.8 per cent in the March quarter - the slowest pace in 20 quarters. According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy( CMIE) data, India's unemployment rate stood at 8.1 per cent which is said to be a 45-year high.

Sitharaman's budget also comes amidst a global slowdown, and poor levels of consumption in the Indian economy. All in all, the Finance Minister has a tightrope walk ahead with the economy facing challenges on multiple counts Measures to address these will need to be taken without losing sight of the fiscal consolidation roadmap.

[Economic Survey 2019: CEA Reveals Plan To Make India A $5-Trillion Economy]

Reports suggest that Sitharaman's first job would be to inject a heavy dose of growth hormone into the sluggish economy. And for that she would have to give reforms a big push. Structural changes in the banking sector are also needed. Improving governance and stepping back from interfering in state-run banks will be welcome steps. Public sector banks need autonomy to compete with their private sector peers.

In its Economic Survey 2019 prepared by the new Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the government projected the GDP or gross domestic product to grow at 7 per cent in financial year 2019-20.

In previous budget, former finance minister Arun Jaitley announced several measures to boost agricultural production and rural economy. One of the major initiatives Jaitley announced was fixing minimum support price of the Kharif crops at 1.5 times the cost of production.

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