Two Key Numbers to Look Out for in the Upcoming Budget 2021
The most important concern is that of increasing public spending.
FILE PHOTO: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds budget papers as she leaves her office to present the federal budget in the parliament in New Delhi, India, Feb. 1, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis/File photo
Macro31/Jan/2021
There are really only two numbers to look out for in the forthcoming budget: how much did the government claim to have spent in 2020-21, and how much does it intend to spend in 2021-22.
As it is, the Indian governmentâs response to COVID-19 has been, in purely economic terms, one of the worst in the world. Not only did it impose a national lockdown without notice or consultation, at a time when it was not needed, it then proceeded to âunlockâ as cases mounted and infections spread more rapidly, thereby putting more people at risk.