Summing up of Budget 2019-20: Justifying irresponsibility

(Published in MTimes 28 June 2019)

 After the two exceptional contributions on Budget 2019-20 – the first being  the well-researched intervention by the Leader of the MMM in the National Assembly, and the second  the thorough analytical paper of Sushil Khushiram published in some leading newspapers - the Minister of Finance had to respond with the authority of a man that the high position of Minister of Finance (MOF) demands and the sanctimony of someone who believes in a clear vision of the economy, its programmes and policies and the drive to nudge the debate forward with verve and clarity.

Political Caricatures:SBM holdings: Jackpot for the tribe;Pomponette Beach: Rezistans ek Alternativ calls for the restitution of the beach to the public.....

Political Caricatures: Our coastal areas at risk, PRB  as an electoral bribe; Olivier Blanchard on  debt; Artificially depreciating the Rupee;Health Employees Union...;Poverty in Black River...

Political Caricatures: Betamax Verdict: They are all guilty; youth in the fight against communalism; Raiding the Central Bank’s reserves

Budget 2019-20: Postponing the Day of Reckoning

(Published in MTimes of 14th June 2019)

For weeks, we had been asking around about the probable fiscal stance for the 2019-20 budget? Will it be an austerity budget given the pressures of the IMF for greater efforts at fiscal consolidation and reining in of the public sector debt to meet the debt target? The Government seems to have opted for fiscal profligacy rather than fiscal rectitude.

Budget 2019-20: The Orientation

(Published in MTimes on 07 June 2019)

The consolidated budget deficit for 2017-18 is -3.7% of GDP and exclusive of grants it comes to -5.2%. Our own estimates of the consolidated budget deficit for 2018-19 turns out to be around -3.5 % of GDP as compared to earlier estimates of -3.8%. As in previous years, the budget deficit has been contained by sacrificing capital expenditures (Net Acquisition of Nonfinancial Assets - NANA) to a dismal 1.6% of GDP. This trend is likely to continue in the next budget with the populist policies — plenty of giveaways and goodies — at the cost of NANA.