Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget 2023, her fifth, at 11 AM on Wednesday. This will be the current government's last full Budget. Next year, it will present an interim Budget ahead of the general elections. On Tuesday, Sitharaman also tabled the Economic Survey 2022-23 in Parliament. It pegged the baseline gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for FY24 at 6.5 per cent.
The Budget 2023-24 is also special because it is the first normal Budget after the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, it will be presented in a paperless form, like the previous two Budgets.
According to reports, the Budget may increase the capital expenditure and try to maintain a lower fiscal deficit in FY24 as compared to 6.4 per cent in FY23.
When and where to watch Budget 2023?
The Union Budget 2023 can be watched on February 1 at 11 AM on Sansad TV. It will also be shown on the YouTube channel of Sansad TV. Moreover, the budget session can be viewed at www.indiabudget.gov.in.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) will also telecast the Budget Speech on its YouTube channel.
The Budget can be tracked on Business Standard's exclusive coverage too.
Since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been focussing on ramping up capital spending on building roads, energy and other infrastructure. This year too, experts said that the trend will continue. The capex allotment is likely to go up by 20-30 per cent.
Also, the allocation to health, education and rural projects is also likely to go up. This will be made possible by high tax collections.
In January, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections were the second-highest ever at Rs 1,56 trillion. This reinstates the fact that the Centre may be able to keep the fiscal deficit under its target for FY23 of 6.4 per cent.
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