Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Union MoS Pankaj Choudhary and other officials reached Parliament today. She will attend the Cabinet Meeting where the Cabinet will give its nod to the Budget after which FM will present the Union Budget 2025 in Parliament.
Nirmala Sitharaman and MoS for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan before the Union Budget.
President Murmu offered ‘dahi-chini’ to the Union Finance Minister. This is a tradition of wishing good luck. During the meeting, FM was seen discussing the Budget proposals with the President.
Nirmala Sitharaman will present her 8th consecutive budget today in the Lok Sabha. The budget speech will have the government’s fiscal policies, revenue and expenditure proposals, taxation reforms and other big announcements.
Meanwhile, Economic Survey tabled in Parliament yesterday projected India’s growth to be between 6.3% to 6.8% in the next financial year 2025-26.
The survey tabled a day before the union budget says the country’s economic fundamentals are strong, backed by a stable external account, fiscal consolidation and private consumption.
It says the government will strengthen long term industrial growth by focusing on research and development (R&D), micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and capital goods.
These will boost productivity, innovation and global competitiveness.
"The fundamentals of the domestic economy remain robust, with a strong external account, calibrated fiscal consolidation and stable private consumption. On balance of these considerations, we expect that the growth in FY26 would be between 6.3 and 6.8 per cent."
According to the survey, food inflation is expected to decline in Q4 FY25 on account of seasonal decline in vegetable prices and arrival of Kharif harvest. Good Rabi production will also help keep food prices in check in H1 FY26. However, adverse weather and rising international agricultural prices are risks to inflation.
The survey also says India’s foreign exchange reserves are strong, covering 90% of external debt and providing an import cover of over ten months. Reserves were USD 616.7 billion in January 2024, USD 704.9 billion in September 2024 and USD 634.6 billion as of January 3, 2025. Stability in capital flows has been key to India’s external strength.
The survey also pointed out growth in formal employment. Net EPFO subscriptions have more than doubled from 61 lakh in FY19 to 131 lakh in FY24.
Budget session of Parliament began today (January 31) with President’s address.
First part of the Budget session will end on February 13 and two Houses will meet again on March 10 after recess and the session will end on April 4.
