Budget must strike a balance between growth and equity

The uneven growth across various sectors and unequal distribution of benefits of economic growth cannot be ignored

The Global Risks Report 2022 (GRR), released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) a week before its virtual meet last week, has flagged social cohesion erosion, livelihood crises and mental health deterioration as more immediate concerns. In the medium to long term, climate change, bio-diversity loss and extreme weather are the areas of major worry.

The GRR is based on the views of over 12,000 country-level leaders who identified critical short-term risks to their 124 countries, gathered through the WEF’s Executive Opinion Survey. Only 16% of respondents feel positive and optimistic about the outlook for the world, and just 11% believe