The government is faced with many economic challenges-raging inflation, high twin deficits, surging crude prices and deadlock on key reforms like the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST).
To add to the finance minister's woes is a volatile political landscape. So does Pranab Mukherjee have the political support to deliver a budget that will make a real impact or will it be high on intent and low on substance? Former Chief Economic Advisor and Honorary Professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Dr Shankar Acharya, gives his budget report card. Ranking the government's economic performance a 5-6 in a scale of 1-10, he told CNBC-TV18's Sheeren Bhan that that the UPA failed to keep the promises made on the big ticket "reforms". His expectations from the budget remain muted. "Going by the track record of the government and the finance minister, I would be bold if I anticipate that this budget is going to be big in terms of reforms and ideas," he says, adding, it is better to do a balance of both fiscal and monetary policies than to leave it all to the monetary policy. Dr Acharya believes inflation management has been the biggest disappointment when it comes to the government's economic reforms. "Anyone who goes to the shops is upset. For the second year in a row, we have had double-digit inflation in food items and that had not happened in the last 20 years," he says. Below is a verbatim transcript of Dr Shankar AcharyaDiscover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
