Budget Will Bring Stability To Economy, Says Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the Union Budget 2022-23 would stand for continuity, which will bring stability to the economy reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic. In her reply on Budget in Rajya Sabha, Ms Sitharaman stated that stable and sustainable recovery was the motive of this Budget as the Indian economy suffered the biggest contraction because of the pandemic.

India registered a de-growth of 7.3 per cent for the financial year 2020-21. The economy is estimated to grow at 9.2 per cent in the current financial year 2021-22.

Lashing out at the opposition, she said, "Inflation was 9.1 per cent during the lesser financial crisis of 2008-09, while it is at 6.2 per cent during the pandemic that has a bigger impact on the economy."

She also said, "Capital spending gives much more multiplier than revenue route. We choose public capital spending to boost the economy."

The Finance Minister has raised capital expenditure (Capex) by 35.4 per cent for the financial year 2022-23 to Rs 7.5 lakh crore.

"Rs 7.5 lakh crore spending will create jobs, and the job creation is not limited to 60 lakh jobs from productivity linked incentive plan for 14 sectors," Ms Sitharaman added.

"Coming 25 years are going to be important for India. No wonder we're calling it Amrit Kaal," she further said.