Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will start the pre-budget consultations with different stakeholder groups from Monday, December 14. The consultations will be held for the forthcoming General Budget 2021-22. The meetings will be held virtually.
The Budget for 2020-21 will be crucial as it will decide the trajectory of growth that the economy takes after emerging from a crushing recession owing to the pandemic.
Sitharaman has concluded a comprehensive review of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package (ANBP) with the Secretaries of various Departments, the Ministry of Finance said on Sunday.
India’s economy will return to growth in 2021-22 and higher spending in the budget due in February will lay the foundations for even stronger growth in the next four to five years, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the news agency Reuters earlier.
With the world’s second-highest cases of coronavirus despite a severe lockdown of its 1.3 billion people early on in the pandemic, India’s economy is expected to contract nearly 10% in the 2020-21 financial year. But recovery is taking hold now.
In an official release, Finance Ministry said, the Ministries and Departments concerned have started implementing the announcements under the three Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Packages. The progress of implementation is being reviewed and monitored regularly.
“I would think 2021-22 will be very big, good traction year for achieving a really good rate of growth that itself is going to be a launching pad for 4-5 years of growing at a good speed, provided we do enough on the budget and spend on infrastructure,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.