Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present on February 1 her fifth straight Union Budget in the Parliament for the fiscal year 2023-24 beginning April 1. Like the previous two, Union Budget 2023-24 will also be delivered in paperless form. Before the general elections in 2024, this will be the last full Budget. The event sheds light on the finances of the government along with the determination of the economic policies for the upcoming year. Before the general elections in 2024,
- Former Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog Arvind Panagariya proposed a more effective exemption-free option with lower personal income tax rates
-"It doesn't matter if revenue is the issue, they (the central government) can start out with 4-5 tax rates," he said.
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- Fintech industry experts and non-banking financial businesses (NBFCs) are hopeful the government would propose measures to increase financial inclusion.
- They also include enhanced liquidity infusion along with initiatives to improve partnerships between banks, NBFCs, and other organisations to advance financial inclusion.
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Budget 2023 Expectations Live Updates: How the Budget 2023 can strengthen the fintech industry
- The fintech sector's wish list for Budget 2023 includes tax incentives, regulatory clarity regarding acceptable business models in the Web3 platform, and loosening of restrictions on merchant discount rates.
- Tax incentives for businesses that support the digitization of financial services.
- Tax incentives associated to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) might result in the consolidation of a highly fragmented industry.
- Relaxed rules around Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)
- Tax benefits for Web3 based platoforms would prevent the brain and capital drain that has recently been observed in digital assets, non-fungible tokens, and the Web3space.
- Synchronising legal framework for data privacy across different regulary authorities to support efficient compliance
- Neeraj Bansal, co-head and COO-India Global, KPMG India, said the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), which has benefitted 2.54 million, should be maintained in order to encourage consumers to buy affordable homes.
- Bansal also said the price cap of affordable housing requires a revision to further attract a broader spectrum of homebuyers.
- More tax breaks are specifically required from the perspective of the buyer, he said.
- The government should think about reintroducing the Section 80IBA registration deadline for affordable housing projects, benefitting builders, he added.
- Bansal also said in order to lower the rising cost of raw materials, which will assist to moderate prices, the budget can also take into account rationalising the goods and services tax rates for construction materials like steel and cement.
- Another suggestion includes the overall size of the Special Window for Completion of Construction of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing Projects (SWAMIH) fund, established under the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing, can be increased to Rs 50,000 crore.
- According to analysts, the government would prefer to reach agreement on the pending disinvestment targets, rather than focusing on big-bang sales.
- "The government's proposals of privatising two PSU banks, state-owned oil company BPCL, select steel plants, and infra assets (airports, railway stations, etc) have seen limited movement in 2022, and appear unlikely to see a serious push in 2023,” Jefferies India Pvt Ltd analysts said in a note.
- Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, on the other hand, believe that, despite a bleak past, things are looking up for public sector enterprises. They note that the profit pool of public sector undertakings (PSUs) has steadily increased.
- Former MPC member Mridul Saggar says the budget for 2023–24 must aim to cut the fiscal deficit to 5.5 percent of GDP
- "The government, in recent years, has exercised commendable fiscal restraint… The senior bureaucrats in North Block deserve to be complimented for the eagle eye they have kept on budgetary components and on taking quick decisions and yet not derailing the fiscal position," Saggar told Moneycontrol in an interview.
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- An economists survey indicates that the Narendra Modi government will aim to keep up its rate of spending to support growth while relying on asset sales and shunning subsidies to reduce the deficit.
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- The market succumbed to major selling pressure on January 27, with the benchmark indices falling nearly 2 percent despite a positive trend in global peers, as participants turned cautious ahead of key events next week – Union Budget 2023 and the US Federal Reserve meeting.
- Bears took a strong lead for a second consecutive session, which resulted in a loss of Rs 11.75 lakh crore of wealth during 2 sessions, as the BSE market capitalisation fell from Rs 280.39 lakh crore, to 268.64 lakh crore as of 14:46 hours IST.
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- This will be FM Nirmala Sitharaman's fifth union budget presentation. The budget presentation will commence at 11 am on February 1 and can continue for up to two hours.
- The Budget 2023 will be broadcast live on Lok Sabha TV along with other news outlets. It can also be viewed live on Moneycontrol.com.
-Union Budget 2023 will be the last full budget of the Narendra Modigovernment ahead of the 2024 general election
Longest (by duration): Nirmala Sitharaman (2020)
Longest speeches (by word count): Manmohan Singh (1991) - 18,650 words
Shortest budget speech: Hirubhai M. Patel's interim budget speech in 1977 - 800 words
Here is a look at the longest and shortest budget speeches made in India's history.
A Balasubramanian, MD and CEO of Aditya Birla Sunlife AMC, anticipates a growth-oriented budget with increased funding for private capital expenditures, and predicts that the rate cycle will peak in 2023.
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expected by the real estate industry
-The real industry expectations has its own set of expectations from the upcoming Union Budget. It is trying to push for better infrastructure status, higher tax exemption on payment of home loan interest as well as other SOPs.
-This sector has witnessed steady growth as well as rising rates of interest in the past two years with multiple investors seeking refuge under investment in real estate amidst the economic crisis, as mentioned by experts.
-The housing property segment also reported a 10 year high in primary home sales cross the top seven cities in the year 2022 despite rising morgage rates, increasing property rates and global changes.
(with inputs from Economic Times)
