By IANS,
New Delhi : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was all set Friday morning to table India’s budget for the next fiscal with a renewed sense of optimism over the country’s growth and clear signals from policymakers to bring deficits back to manageable levels.
Expectations were also high from the 74-year-old veteran politician, who has tabled four budgets in the past, that he will address the twin issue of bringing down prices while ensuring higher overall growth for the economy.
At the same time, he is also under pressure to roll back, albeit gradually, the $37-billion stimuli announced since December 2008 to help India weather the global economic slowdown.
The budget will be presented in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, after a quick meeting of the federal cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a customary approval of the proposals.