Opinion: Jaitley Has Done A Fine Balancing Act - By Harshad Patil

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has committed to adhere to the fiscal roadmap and contain the fiscal deficit to 3.5 per cent in FY 2016-17 despite considerable pressures on the government finances due to the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. He has done a fine balancing act by delivering a fiscally prudent and growth-oriented budget. The budget attempts to kick-start the investment cycle through robust public capital expenditure spend even as it places equal emphasis on crucial areas such as agriculture and farmer welfare, rural development, healthcare and skill development in an effort to address rural distress after two successive subpar monsoons.
 
The government has continued to increase investment in the key areas of the infrastructure sector such as roads and railways, provide incentives for oil and gas discovery in deep water, allowed 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced in India as well as create a robust dispute resolution mechanism for public private partnerships in the infrastructure space. 
 
The finance minister has announced a series of initiatives aimed at increasing tax collections, streamlining tax administration as well as creating a framework to facilitate resolution of long pending tax disputes.     
 
The bond markets have been enthused by the adherence to the fiscal deficit as the net government borrowing for the fiscal 2016-17 stood at Rs 4.25 lakh crore, lower than market expectation while the equity markets took comfort from the status quo on long-term capital gains.

(Harshad Patil is Chief Investment Officer at Tata AIA Life)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has committed to adhere to the fiscal roadmap and contain the fiscal deficit to 3.5 per cent in FY 2016-17 despite considerable pressures on the government finances due to the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. He has done a fine balancing act by delivering a fiscally prudent and growth-oriented budget. The budget attempts to kick-start the investment cycle through robust public capital expenditure spend even as it places equal emphasis on crucial areas such as agriculture and farmer welfare, rural development, healthcare and skill development in an effort to address rural distress after two successive subpar monsoons.
 
The government has continued to increase investment in the key areas of the infrastructure sector such as roads and railways, provide incentives for oil and gas discovery in deep water, allowed 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced in India as well as create a robust dispute resolution mechanism for public private partnerships in the infrastructure space. 
 
The finance minister has announced a series of initiatives aimed at increasing tax collections, streamlining tax administration as well as creating a framework to facilitate resolution of long pending tax disputes.     
 
The bond markets have been enthused by the adherence to the fiscal deficit as the net government borrowing for the fiscal 2016-17 stood at Rs 4.25 lakh crore, lower than market expectation while the equity markets took comfort from the status quo on long-term capital gains.

(Harshad Patil is Chief Investment Officer at Tata AIA Life)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.