By tradition, India's pre-election budget is an “interim budget” – a modest rollover of expenditures to see the government through for a few months until a new government is elected and presents its own budget. Not this time.
NEW DELHI – One sign that an Indian general election is imminent, and that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is readying its campaign pitch, is the government’s final pre-election budget. By tradition, it is an “interim budget” – a modest rollover of expenditures to see the government through for a few months until a new government is elected and presents its own budget. But, in issuing its last budget at the beginning of February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government went much further than its predecessors, by including far-reaching proposals for tax concessions and giveaways.
NEW DELHI – One sign that an Indian general election is imminent, and that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is readying its campaign pitch, is the government’s final pre-election budget. By tradition, it is an “interim budget” – a modest rollover of expenditures to see the government through for a few months until a new government is elected and presents its own budget. But, in issuing its last budget at the beginning of February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government went much further than its predecessors, by including far-reaching proposals for tax concessions and giveaways.