Ready Reckoner: FM Sitharaman’s fourth Budget places emphasis on growth

The fiscal deficit for FY22 is projected at 6.9 per cent, higher than the 6.8 per cent target, and will decline to 6.4 per cent in FY23. The health Budget has stagnated, but the government’s emphasis has been on education, where the expenditure crossed Rs 1 trillion for the first time.

Effective capital expenditure, which also combines grants in aid for the creation of capital assets, is expected to increase 27 per cent in FY23. Direct taxes will grow 13.6 per cent in FY23.

Indirect taxes shall rise 5.5 per cent, on the back of a 15.6 per cent increase in spending in FY23. Divestment receipts have been tempered down to Rs 65,000 crore in FY23, after three years where the Budget Estimates were over Rs 1 trillion.

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