Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal will present the last budget of the present government on Friday. Even though there would a few populist promises, the interim budget that falls on an election year is expected to be a dull affair. This may well be the last chance for the Narendra Modi government to throw in a few sops to please the disgruntled farmers, medium and small scale industries and the middle class before the general elections.
The budget comes amid reports of high unemployment rate, at 6.1 per cent, the highest in 45 years. The report is for the year after the government announced the economically disruptive demonetisation of high denomination notes in 2016. MSMEs and the farm sector have been reeling under economic stress and the agriculture workers have demanded debt relief.
However, against the earlier speculations of the government going for a full budget, the finance ministry has clarified that Goyal would present only an interim budget. It would be prudent not to expect any needle-moving policy announcements in Goyal's budget speech.
