Thank you Pranab Babu

Pranab Babu must be a happy man, last time around PC's superb oratory skills had left both us and the opposition spellbound, many considering the fact that that it was the best budget ever presented. But then the stock market crashed . The markets went up by 300 points this time and kept risen at 175 when it closed. Pranab Babu thus must be very pleased. Yes the opposition walked out and the contents of the budget are likely to make much of us happy but still the market rallied to some expectation which all of us failed to see. Pranab Babu often has been labeled boring and was expected to deliver a budget which was supposed to be low on both form and substance. But then as if giving out free “Rosogullas” during a famine he probably delivered one of the most most pronounced budgets when compared to ones in the past decade.

The budget did not look spectacular, but it was never meant to be so. It was only when one saw Pranoy Roy dissect it that it looked so. This was a more a workman like Rahul Dravid carving out a win than Yuvraj blasting 6 sixes. For starters the Stimulus measures initiated by the Finance Ministry wasnt being round upped but only partially wound up and an increase in excise duties by 2 percent. The fiscal deficits were supposed be be reined in (a welcome change than just passing it on every year). And even though the opposition walked out on the announcement of increasing of fuel prices but the actual hike by Re 1 excellent news for the market, in accordance to speculation it was supposed to go up quite significantly. The direct tax announcement was also something to cheer about but then the picture does not look that rosy when one looks into it in detail..

The contents of the budget does not necessarily make everyone happy, the “Mango People” would be hit by the price rise of petrol and increase in the service charge for domestic air travel. Pranab Babu expects a GDP of 9% per annum and the budget he says is geared to do that. Tall claims one may say as inflation is around 8% and food inflation is around 17%. Putting these into consideration we would require a growth rate in actuals of around 20% in order to have a actual GDP of 9%. then there is the big question of actual growth of Rural Infrastructure which is supposed to get 25% of the total funds set aside for for Infrastructural Development. Such was promised before but then there are mass farmer suicides and the no of poor keeps on getting increased every year. But then for all the budgets which have been passed every year keeping in mind the to be coming vote banks for the next general election this one would stand out. It would stand out for being simple and not merely promising stuff like a politician on a election warp. It addresses the most simplistic and basic issues a finance ministry needs to address, maintain GDP growth, remove the fiscal deficit and ensuring the delivery machinery to reach these targets are running smooth.

Personally for me the best part of the budget was the news of new banking licenses, many of us have often been harassed for simple stuff and an hours job max has often been a month long wait. While the Private banks refused to let go of money and slapped false charges the Public Sector largely lethargic ever worked. We as a society have come a long way since the days of Priya Tendulkar to hauling public figures for gross negligence. But then nothing is done in case of a bank even if it is their fault.

The fault largely remains with us as we are too damm lazy but the new rule of “Licensing” might just allows a few “Lazybones” to take up issues.

So Thank You Pranab Babu for a “Boring and quite Uninteresting Budget” and while you may take a well earned break and sample “Macher Jhol” here's hoping what you did present rallies the country to heights as it did the stock market.