Growth trajectory, Budget in focus at Explained event today

Neelkanth Mishra, co-head, Asia Pacific Strategy and India Equity Strategist, Credit Suisse, and part-time member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, will answer questions on the Union Budget 2023 at the Explained-Live session Wednesday.

Neelkanth Mishra at a previous Explained event in New Delhi. (Express Photo/File)

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At a time when risks to economic growth loom on the global stage, India is being seen as a bright spot among emerging economies. The government has reiterated its focus on growth, with a strong push for capital expenditure in the Union Budget for 2023-24.

At the same time, the government has maintained its intent towards fiscal consolidation even as risks remain from high commodity prices and entrenched inflation.

States have been incentivised to increase expenditure on infrastructure and cut subsidies and spending on the job guarantee scheme. Even in the last full Budget before 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the lid has been kept on non-priority spending.

Will the higher outlay for capital expenditure spur real and sustainable growth? And does the government’s fiscal math fit the inflation and growth projections made by other agencies?

The big Budget announcement is an increase in rebate limit in the new tax regime from Rs 5 lakh to 7 lakh. Does this mark an end to tax-focused saving instruments — especially insurance policies — and a shift towards discretionary spending or investment in the markets?

Answering some of these questions will be Neelkanth Mishra, co-head, Asia Pacific Strategy and India Equity Strategist, Credit Suisse, and part-time member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, at The Indian Express explained.Live session on Wednesday.

Mishra will discuss ways in which to look at India’s growth trajectory, and to better understand the nuances of policy-making — both monetary and fiscal — in times of inflation, constraints to growth, and persistent global risks.

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He will be in conversation with P Vaidyanathan Iyer, Executive Editor, The Indian Express.