Financing the vaccine

Any cess or surcharge should be one-time

Covid-induced disruption in economic activity has had a significant impact on revenue collection. Consequently, the Union government has increased its borrowing target by about 50 per cent to Rs 12 trillion in the current year. While an improvement in economic activity with a reduction in restriction on movement has helped improve tax collection, the government is expected to borrow the additional amount to push expenditure, which will aid the revival process. Revenue will improve significantly in the next fiscal year, though from a much lower base, and the government would be expected to start the fiscal consolidation process. The Budget