Arun Jaitley attempts a clean-up job in Budget 2017

Finance minister , keeps projected expenditure growth low

Presenting the Union Budget for 2017-18 on Wednesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley attempted a clean-up job across the board – including on macro-economic indicators, some troubled sectors, and on tax compliance. A major impact on the Budget-drafting process was quite evidently the decision by the government last November to demonetise high-value currency notes. 

Jaitley chose to deviate from the exact path of fiscal consolidation slightly, budgeting a fiscal deficit of 3.2% of gross domestic product in 2017-18 instead of the previously projected 3%. However, he did still shrink the deficit, and promised to hit the 3% target in 2018-19. The