The risks of minimalism

One should not rule out Ms Sitharaman doing better than what she has projected for next year's total revenue numbers

Nirmala Sitharaman has chosen to not rock the boat while presenting a minimalist Union Budget for 2022-23. She has imparted no shocks, and not embarked on any potentially stormy taxation initiatives. Opting instead for stability, the finance minister has left taxes unchanged, for all practical purposes, and stuck to capital investment as the focus of expenditure. She has reduced the deficit by the minimum level expected, and continued with her transparent approach to budgeting. There are further steps to make life easier for taxpayers and to reduce the scope for disputes. For good measure, the Budget speech was shorter than