Nirmala Sitharaman gears up to present the Budget, scheduled for July 23, let's have a look at what the Budget Survey by ET Online said about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Indian economy at the moment. The good, surprisingly, is that 'inflation is under control', the bad part is the global uncertainty and coalition politics. The ugly, and predictably, is India’s jobless growth.
In the run-up to the Budget 2024, ET Online conducted a survey to get a sense of what India is looking for in the upcoming Union Budget. The survey received responses from nearly 9,500 Economic Times readers.
Over 34 per cent of respondents believe that inflation being under control is the best thing about the Indian economy at the moment. More than 29 per cent of respondents opted for the country's healthy forex reserves as a key strength. Nearly 24 per cent chose the healthy balance sheets of businesses, while 12 per cent appreciate the ease of doing business in the current economic climate.
This comes in contrast to widespread public concerns about rising prices of items from onion and tomato to gourmet selections, while they demand income tax cuts that have largely eluded them in the Budget since 2014.