Lot of headroom for FM on reforms pitch

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent a clear message of continuity in the government’s economic policy with the re-appointment of Nirmala Sitharaman as Finance Minister. Sitharaman’s return comes on the back of a successful track record with the Indian economy clocking a robust 8.2 per cent growth in 2023-24, which is the fastest among the world’s major economies, and inflation coming down to below five per cent.

She presented an interim Budget on February 1, 2024, before Lok Sabha elections. With this, she surpassed the records of her predecessors like Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, who had presented five budgets in a row.

Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai holds the record of presenting 10 Budgets, the maximum by any Finance Minister. During her tenure as Finance Minister, the fiscal deficit has also been reduced from more than nine per cent of GDP in 2020-21 to the targeted level of 5.1 per cent for 2024-25 fiscal.