Budget 2018: LTCG impact on markets is for short term, says Subhash Garg

"We are right now at about 47% debt-GDP. Bringing it down to 40 per cent requires many years," says Garg

A day after Budget 2018-19, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg defended the Centre’s fiscal stance and said that any revenue concerns arising from the goods and services tax were now a thing of the past. In an exclusive interaction with Arup Roychoudhury, Garg said upheavals in equity markets were expected after the Budget announcements on long-term capital gains tax, and that the impact on markets would be a short-term one. Edited excerpts:

One of the big concerns arising out of the Budget is the slippage from the fiscal consolidation path. You are now aiming for a fiscal deficit target