India announces new budget aiming to boost growth
India’s finance minister has announced his government’s new budget, promising a slew of measures that attempt to balance welfare spending with high economic growth and infrastructure development while vowing to keep a tight control on fiscal deficit.
Today’s announcement was finance minister Arun Jaitley’s first full budget since prime minister Narendra Modi won a thumping majority in national elections in May on the back of promises that he would turn around the economy and boost job creation.
Jaitley said the Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.4% in the current fiscal year, which ends in March, and will grow more than 8% in the next year.
Jaitley said his government would stick to the fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP in the current year.
