It was a positive Budget except for the blip on short-term capital gains tax, which is what the market has reacted to. From the broader institutional perspective, especially as some of the foreign institutions look at it, they would be rather pleased with it. The expectation being built-up by the media was that since this is the last Budget before the elections, this could be a particularly populist Budget.

It was probably less populist than what most people thought. Most of the things have been consistent, whether it is adherence to FRBM and consistency of tax rates. So, at a broad level, the Finance Minister seems to have managed to do a last Budget without being alarmingly populist. From an institutional perspective, that’s a positive in this market.


Rating : Not Rated