Expectations from the Union Budget 2013-14

The finance minister of India will present the union budget for the fiscal year 2013-14 in the Parliament in February 2013. The people of India have various expectations from the union budget.

There have been many macro-economic issues related to common-men, Aam Admi in this country, who may get some good relief in terms of many schemes and services if declared in the forthcoming budget.

The government may try to fulfil the demands of the people in the budget, but it has some limitations, as it needs to take care of the economy, which has been facing the global slowdown.

The cap on the LPG usage for customers was the major setback for the users, but the implementation of cap on number of LPG cylinders, the government could able to check around 700 crore rupees subsidies in the few months.

And in long-run, it may give more and more check on subsidies, which could help the economy to bounce back from the glow growth to fast pace race.

Income Tax: There may be some changes in the income tax slabs to give some relaxation to the families reeling under the pressure of the high inflation, high fuel prices, and cap on LPG usage. There might be some good news for the senior citizens and women in income tax filing. There may be little variation in the current income tax slabs, which may give a minor relief to the income tax payers, as the government has been on a path for economic reforms to boost the economy.

Agriculture: Major focus could be given to agriculture and the subsidies for farmers. Monsoon was normal the year so as the cultivation in the country last year and there may be some more relief from the government over crop credits for farmers. There may be some more measures to ensure the contribution from agriculture sector to the GDP.

Senior Citizens: In the forthcoming budget, the senior citizens might get some special attention in the entire scheme meant for them by the government of India. The security of senior citizens, travelling and pension could be given more priority. The interest rates for the deposits by senior citizens might get more interest rate on those.

Subsidies: The government may take some good measures to back its economic reforms while focusing on the subsidies. But the expectations would be on the contrary to the approach of the government in checking the subsidies. People would have to have subsidies to make their life easy, while the government is trying to keep the fiscal deficit around 5.3 per cent. It’s very hard for the government keep fiscal deficit low with having more and more subsidies.

Though the government is on a path of economic reforms but will try to meet the expectation of the people by presenting them a popular union budget for 2013.