Budget 2023: Govt likely to avoid populist measures; tax tweaks possible

FM Sitharaman is unlikely to tinker much with tax rates, yet will also steer clear of populist measures, according to economists surveyed

India’s government will look to maintain its pace of spending to bolster growth as it leans on asset sales while shunning subsidies to shrink the deficit, according to a survey of economists.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will likely increase expenditure by about 12.5% year-on-year to 44.40 trillion rupees ($544 billion) in the year beginning April, according to the median of estimates in a Bloomberg survey ahead of the Feb. 1 budget.

The fiscal gap is expected to narrow to 5.9% of gross domestic product, from 6.4% in the current fiscal year, according to the survey median. The government is expected to