Analysis: India’s once-in-a-century budget runs into trouble as virus strikes back – Reuters India

  • Date: 17-May-2021
  • Source: Reuters
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Gulf
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Analysis: India’s once-in-a-century budget runs into trouble as virus strikes back – Reuters India

India's annual budget in February was lauded by many and raised hopes it would drive a sharp economic revival, but there are now fears that its promise may fall flat as it did not account for a crippling second wave of COVID-19 infections.

The budget aimed to revive Asia's third-largest economy via investing in infrastructure and health care, while relying on an aggressive privatisation strategy and robust tax collections - on the back of projected growth of 10.5% - to fund its spending in the fiscal year. read more

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India would not see such a budget in "100 years". At the time, a massive COVID-19 vaccination drive and a rebound in consumer demand and investments had put the economy on track to recover from its deepest recorded slump.