New Delhi: Faced with the challenge of revving up the economy, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the union budget would be presented in the first week of July with focus on 'Aam Admi' and a special attention to areas like textiles that were hit hard by global meltdown.
Racing against time to avert a second vote-on-account, Mukherjee said: "I would not like to have a second batch of vote-on-account... the budget will be presented in the first week of July". The budget will have to be passed before July 31, failing which another interim budget would be mandatory.
"We have identified issues and areas of concern that need to be addressed in this budget and will work closely with Manmohan Singh in presenting the first budget," Mukherjee said in an interview to private news channel.
The focus of the government policies would be "Aam Admi" (common man), the minister said, adding that the budget would address the problems of sectors like textiles, leather and gems and jewelery as they are the ones hit hard by the global financial crisis.
Immediately after being named as the Finance Minister, Mukherjee had told reporters: "Indian economy is resilient, strong and we shall have to build up and come back to the growth track as early as possible."
After being given additional charge of Finance Ministry before elections, Mukherjee had presented an interim budget in February and immediately after taking charge yesterday started consultation with top officials on budget.