Budget Session 2023: PM Says "World's Eyes On India's Budget Amid Global Uncertainty"

Significant voices in the economic world are giving positive signals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today as he arrived in the Parliament for the budget session. President Droupadi Murmu will for the first time address both the Houses, he pointed out, adding that it's a day of pride for tribal society.

"It has been a tradition in the Parliament that when a new MP speaks for the first time, the entire Parliaments gives them respect and creates an atmosphere to give them confidence. Similarly, today's address is a first by the President," he said.

The PM said even the Finance Minister, who will present the union budget tomorrow, is a woman, and that not just India, but the entire world is keeping an eye on our budget.

"This budget will also be a bright spot for the shaky global economy. I am sure Nirmala (Sitharaman) ji will live up to all expectations," the PM said.

"We have only one thought, the country comes first. In the budget session, we will wrangle and discuss as well. We will have a very good discussion on every issue in the House. All MPs will participate in this session with full preparation. This session will be important for all of us," he added.

An economic survey by Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran will be tabled in the parliament today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a day before she presents the budget for the next fiscal year. The Economic Survey is the government's review of how the economy fared in the past year.

India's annual pre-budget economic survey is likely to peg GDP growth at 6-6.8% for 2023-24, news agency Reuters reported, quoting a source.

The government survey is likely to say that growth is seen at 6.5% for 2023-24 under the baseline scenario, the person said, declining to be named as the matter was confidential. This would be the slowest in three years. Nominal growth is likely to be forecast at 11% for 2023-24, the Reuters source added.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday also said it is expecting some slowdown in the Indian economy next fiscal year and projected the growth to 6.1 percent from 6.8 percent during the current fiscal ending March 31.

“Growth in India is set to decline from 6.8 percent in 2022 to 6.1 percent in 2023 before picking up to 6.8 percent in 2024, with resilient domestic demand despite external headwinds,” said the IMF's World Economic Outlook update.

“I want to say, we had a positive view on India in our October forecast. That positive view is largely unchanged,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Chief Economist and Director, Research Department of the IMF, said.

The Union budget on Wednesday will test the government's resolve to stay fiscally prudent as expectations of lower taxes, wider social security net and further boost to production gather steam before national elections, Bloomberg said.

Ms Sitharaman may tweak income-tax slabs to provide relief to the nation's vast middle class and increase spend on the poor through programs such as rural jobs, while ramping up financial incentives for local manufacturing, according to economists and reports in local media, Bloomberg added.