Budget 2018: This could be the best time for Modi to honour fiscal pledges

On current policy, the government predicts growth will rise from 6.5 percent to somewhere between 7 percent and 7.5 percent

With elections in sight, India's government is under pressure to loosen fiscal policy in its budget on Thursday. Tempting as this may seem, it would be a mistake.

Chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian has made the most candid argument for relaxing the country's tough fiscal stance: Given the political calendar, promises to honor the targets simply wouldn't be believed. He has a point -- but the answer is to do a better job of explaining why the targets make sense.

The Indian economy was jolted by the overnight withdrawal of high-value currency notes in November 2016 and last July's introduction