Budget 2023-24: With all eyes on growth, it's over to FM Sitharaman

A domestic economic slowdown, two years of Covid-19 pandemic, and a war in Europe that upended the global supply chain tested the past four Union Budgets that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented. Her fifth Budget, set to be presented on Wednesday, would now have to take into account equally challenging headwinds.

Even as India is a relatively bright spot in the global economy, most of its big trading partners in the West, and China are bracing for a deep slowdown and, in some cases, a recession.

The challenge for the finance minister is now to ensure that India remains on