Non-protectionist but non-performing Budget

Budget is good but not good enough to live up to the FM's promise of getting rid of "socialist baggage"

The best thing about the Budget is that it has belied the lingering fear in the minds of many importers and analysts that the government would raise customs duty to usher in a protectionist era once again. Nothing like that has been done. On the other hand, changes have been made in the rates of duty, both upwards and downwards, depending upon the nature of the industry. For iron and steel industry, the rates have been reduced for several items to neutralise the rise in prices of iron and steel products. Duty has been reduced on caprolactum, nylon chips, nylon