“A budget is telling your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went”.
We have seen our mothers preparing a budget for groceries and all household things; our father for saving, investing, expenses. We young age people, when we start earning, we too start managing our income and expenses taking care that we don’t get caught in the trap of debt. Same way nations prepare a budget every year to manage income, expenses, savings, and investments.
Under Article 112 of the Constitution of India, the government at the center is bound constitutionally to frame the ‘annual financial report’ of the country. This report is commonly known as the Union Budget of India.
Let us understand what is the budget?
A year-long budget is an utterance of the government’s visible projection of its social, economical, and political policies. The financial report proposed explains item-wise calculations of future revenue and expenditure. It defines the state of the country’s economy and changes that will impact the lives of the common man. This is the reason why citizens remain glued to the television, phones on Budget Day.
Now you might wonder what is the need for the nationwide budget?
'The government of India is of the people, by the people, and for the people.'
This phrase says explicitly that government has the responsibility on its shoulders for the welfare of its people, society, economy, infrastructure, businesses, resources, etc.
For our country with a population of 1.3 billion, it is important to allocate resources wisely and in line with the goals of the country.
Proper resource allocation leads to the development of industries. Industry gets wind of which way the country is heading and then they plan their objectives, policies, aims, targets accordingly.
Now, proper allocation of resources and development of industries or businesses contribute to reducing disparity among people of the country.
And as we say United we stand, similarly the above objectives when united, contribute to strong and stable economic growth.
These objectives are catered to by the budget that government announces. The budget is a plan prepared in numbers and a guide for the nation for the tour of the development.
Growth of GDP, the standard of living, policies, investment, etc. Every single thing depends on the budget that government announces. As we know on FEB 1, 2021 government is all set to announce the budget and the citizens are waiting for it as a ray of hope for their lives because of the destruction caused in lives because of COVID-19. Let us see what shall be expected from the Budget of 2021-2022 to be announced soon.
Expectations:
The health care ecosystem, real estate, and infrastructure sectors will be the center of attraction.
Increase in public funding on health to 2.5% of GDP.
The tax exemption limit is expected to be increased from ₹ 2.5 lakh to ₹ 5 lakh. The immediate expectation is to reduce the tax burden of taxpayers.
The government provides exemption (part of your income on which you don’t need to pay tax) up to ₹ 1 lakh for long term capital gains from the sale of listed equity shares and equity mutual funds. The government should look at increasing the exemption limit from ₹ 1 lakh to ₹ 2 lakh for retail investors.
Citizens are also expecting an increase in the amount of deduction for medical coverage.
Experts expect that for non-senior citizens the amount should be increased from ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 50,000 and for senior citizens from ₹ 50,000 to ₹ 75,000.
Increase public funding on education to 6% of GDP considering National Education policy.
Increase in foreign investment.
Policies to inject employment opportunities.
COVID-19 cess from people with higher income, as a part of refueling the economy.
Bringing electric vehicles to India may boost the Automobile sector.
Railway might attract less allocation in the budget because of IPO.
Policies to boost the local market, start-up ventures, entrepreneurs in line with Atmanirbhar's goal.
High net worth income people could be charged or taxed more, by increasing tax slabs, tax payments on luxurious goods, etc.
Clearing the clouds of doubts, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the budget of 2021-2022 will be something that our country hasn’t witnessed in the past 100 years. This budget presents the government with an opportunity like never before to not just recover but build back better.
Now everyone will have their eyes and ears glued on television, news apps, and new budget application (prepared specially to announce budget digitally) to witness what reforms and new policies will be introduced and initiated this year considering the dent of COVID-19 on the economy and nation.
We are here to do post budget analysis for you. Subscribe to read regularly. :)
コメント