Publishing date: Feb 01, 2021 • February 1, 2021 • 2 minute read •
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NEW DELHI — India proposed doubling healthcare spending in an annual budget unveiled on Monday and lifted caps on foreigners investing in its vast insurance market to help revive an economy that suffered its deepest recorded slump as a result of the pandemic.
Delivering her budget statement to parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam projected a fiscal deficit of 6.8% of gross domestic product for 2021/22, higher than the 5.5% forecast by a recent Reuters poll of economists. The current year was expected to end with a deficit of 9.5%, she said, well up from the 7% expected earlier.