Pranab Mukherjee to start Union Budget speech at 11 am

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present challenging Union Budget 2011-2012 on today. The budget speech will start at 11 AM and if everything goes smoothly in Parliament it should be over by 12.30 PM.

February 28, 2011 / 09:52 IST

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present challenging Union Budget 2011-2012 today. The budget speech will start at 11 AM and if everything goes smoothly in Parliament it should be over by 12.30 PM.

Mukherjee, known more as a wily political operator than as an economic reformer, is likely to have growing public unrest in mind as he crafts the new budget.

The government is likely to increase subsidies on food in a February 28 budget, a populist move that hurts public finances but promises political dividends for a ruling coalition trying to cool disquiet over high inflation.

However, the options before FM are very limited with hardening of crude prices and high food prices. Tax relief is expected for individual tax payers but common man may have to bear the brunt if prices of consumer products are affected due to upward changes in duty structure.

first published: Feb 28, 2011 09:14 am

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