Budget 2022 likely to boost spending with near-record debt, hold tax rates

Finance Minister will probably increase the budget by about 14% year-on-year to Rs 39.6 trillion in the fiscal year beginning April.

India, which is set to regain the world’s fastest-growing major economy title, will likely prioritize growth over fiscal consolidation by boosting spending, according to economists surveyed ahead of Tuesday’s presentation of the nation’s federal budget.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will probably increase the budget by about 14% year-on-year to 39.6 trillion rupees ($527 billion) in the fiscal year beginning April, according to the median of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. She is expected to leave tax rates largely unchanged, and instead rely on income from asset sales and a near-record borrowing of about 13 trillion rupees to partly fund the plan,