Interim Budget 2024 Will Have 'No Spectacular Announcements', Says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the upcoming February budget will be a vote on account, in line with tradition, rather than one of spectacular announcements.

The upcoming February budget will account for government expenditures till the new government is formed, Sitharaman said at the Confederation of Indian Industry's Global Economic Policy Forum on Thursday.

“It's a matter of truth that the February 2024 budget that will be announced will just be a vote on account. We are in an election year...the budget that the government presents will just be for expenditures of the government till a new government comes," she said. "No spectacular announcements will come at that time, we will have to wait till the full budget comes in July."

The minister also highlighted the need for India Inc. to infuse artificial intelligence into their working.

Indian executives must adapt to using AI, take Industrial Revolution 4.0 seriously, include AI and web3 in their planning for short-, medium- and long-term, and take AI in the right spirit to improve productivity and reduce the monotony of due dilligence, she said.

On alternatives to the U.S. dollar and its necessity in the global south, the minister said that it was an issue of concern in many countries in the region. "We have actually facilitated very many countries in engaging with India, using the rupee, because the rupee at least has been very stable against most currencies, particularly the U.S. dollar...So, we have, at least in South Asia and some countries in Africa, already started the process of rupee trade."

Sitharaman also spoke about encouraging not just growth engines but think engines in India and how mechanisms like the border adjustment tax goes against the concerns of the global south.

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which has been sanctioned by the European Union parliament, aims to tax imports according to the amount of carbon emitted in their production, when shipments enter the European border.