Budget 2017 : 9 things you must know

If this mailer does not render correctly, please enable images or view online     Unsubscribe from B2B Decision-Makers list                                                                  Menaka Doshi From the Editor's Desk In cutting taxes on small businesses and lower income citizens and boosting affordable housing and the rural economy, Budget 2017 was probably designed to soothe the hurt caused by demonetisation and make the Modi government's state elections pitch. The increase in public expenditure may not compensate for the lack of private participation, but the Budget's fiscal discipline will please rating agencies, economists and foreign investors. And then there are the proposals to abolish the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and reform political funding, partially atleast. Yes, Budget 2017 does not carry any one big message, it may not even be a crowd pleaser but as one corporate leader told BloombergQuint, it's not the bearer of bad news either. That is now the measure of budgets. Not all bad, if the annual exercise becomes less about 'big bang' moves and more about stability, predictability and well, plain old boring. Budget 2017: Government Targets Fiscal Deficit Of 3.2% Of GDP In FY18 While remaining focused on consolidation, the government has failed to adhere to the target of 3 percent for fiscal 2018 set under the existing Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) framework. However, the government intends to bring down its fiscal deficit to 3 percent next year.   Budget Acknowledges DEMON-etisation Damage; Allows Time To Heal Thank you, M/s Modi/Jaitley for acknowledging that DEMON-etisation was an unconscionable shock that left India's poor, informal and middle economy reeling in the doldrums. Thank you for understanding that the patient was in precarious health. Thank you for sparing him a few more shocks. Mercifully, this is not a tax-and-spend budget. But keeping a meager Rs 10,000 crore aside to recapitalise public sector banks is like trying to dismantle a mountain of debt with a pick-axe.     Budget 2017: Affordable Housing Gets Infrastructure Status, Higher Allocation The government continued its focus on low-cost housing and gave the sector 'infrastructure' status in Budget 2017. Rs 23,000 crore have been allocated to the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana, and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley set a target of building one crore houses by 2019.   Modi to Spend More on India's Poor With Eye on Polls Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered tax cuts and boosted spending on some of India's poorest citizens hurt by his cash ban as he seeks to shore up support before pivotal state elections.   Budget 2017: The Impact On Your Wallet At the end of this year's budget speech, a sense of deja vu coupled with a sense of relief, pervaded. While several seemingly 'path-breaking' proposals were laid out for farmers, youth, etc. prima facie this year's Union Budget was 'memorably forgettable' on the personal finance front. The reduction in the income tax rate from 10 percent to 5 percent for those earning upto Rs 5 lakh, is more optical than anything else.   Finance Minister Proposes Rs 2,000 Limit On Cash Donations To Political Parties In what may be seen as its biggest gamble yet, the Narendra Modi government kicked off reforms in political funding in Budget 2017.   FIPB Abolished, Foreign Investors To Get Single-Window Clearance All foreign investment will now come through the automatic route, streamlining the process for investors.   Government Plans To Consolidate State-Run Oil Companies Integrating all state-run oil companies will result in economies of scale and help the merged entity compete with global and private Indian peers   Budget 2017: 12 Top Takeaways Missed out on Budget 2017 updates? Here's what the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced in a nut shell…   You are receiving this mail because of your subscription with TradeBriefs . Our mailing address is 309 3rd Floor, Town Center 1, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri East, Mumbai 400059, India