Budget a good balance between optimism and caution: Ex-chief eco advisor Ashok Lahiri

So that way the budget has been a good balancing of optimism with caution. Q Is the government headed towards an unsustainable debt with high fiscal deficit A If you look at the fiscal deficit path, the glide path seems to be quite reasonable.


PTI | Kolkata | Updated: 01-02-2023 21:09 IST | Created: 01-02-2023 21:09 IST
Budget a good balance between optimism and caution: Ex-chief eco advisor Ashok Lahiri
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Former chief economic advisor to the Union government Ashok Lahiri said that Wednesday's budget proposals for 2023-24 combined caution with optimism in the right doses.

In an interview with PTI, he said that it would have been imprudent to take more risks on the policy front, given the uncertainty over the geopolitical situation and energy prices.

Asked whether the budget could have been more aggressive on the fiscal deficit front, Lahiri, also a BJP MLA of West Bengal, said, ''There are people who believe that the government should have spent more.'' He said it is not possible to spend more and not levy taxes and also not have a fiscal deficit.

Excerpts of the interview: Q: What do you think is the budget's underlying theme? A: The question is whether it should have done more to promote growth or should it have guarded macroeconomic stability, I think the government has struck the right balance between the two.

Q: Do you think the budget was a compromise between growth and financial stability? A: Trying to be more conservative would have resulted in a sacrifice of growth. So that way the budget has been a good balancing of optimism with caution.'' Q: Is the government headed towards an unsustainable debt with high fiscal deficit? A: If you look at the fiscal deficit path, the glide path seems to be quite reasonable. it has come down to 5.9 and by 2024-25, they are planning to bring it down to 4.5; that seems to be just a glide path which is not too disruptive and at the same time not too slow,'' he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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