FM Nirmala Sitharaman's second Budget a missed opportunity

The government has wasted the chance to firmly establish its reform credentials

In a normal year, the Budget just presented by the finance minister (FM), would have been accepted by the markets without too much fuss. Some good, some bad, but on the whole largely reasonable. However, given the expectations for something more radical, something truly reformist, it has disappointed market participants. We don’t see any big new ideas. We still do not have a sense of the economic vision and game plan of this government. Do they understand why the economy has slowed, and what needs to be done to get things back on track? How do we improve ease of