India’s Fiscal Follies
Successive Indian governments have embraced “poor-friendly” fiscal policies that deliver little real relief to those in need, particularly the rural poor. With a national election looming, the new budget for 2008-2009 promises more of the same.
NEW DEHLI -- India’s new budget for 2008-2009 says less about the country’s current financial health than it does about the irresistible tendency of Indian governments to use the national budget as a pre-election cudgel. Every year, India struggles to reconcile the irreconcilable: stimulate economic growth and investment, alleviate endemic poverty, and feed a ravenous military appetite. The government must be seen to care about “aam aadmi,” the common man (who votes), while satisfying the needs of businessmen (who keep the economy humming).
NEW DEHLI -- India’s new budget for 2008-2009 says less about the country’s current financial health than it does about the irresistible tendency of Indian governments to use the national budget as a pre-election cudgel. Every year, India struggles to reconcile the irreconcilable: stimulate economic growth and investment, alleviate endemic poverty, and feed a ravenous military appetite. The government must be seen to care about “aam aadmi,” the common man (who votes), while satisfying the needs of businessmen (who keep the economy humming).