Challenges before FM: Boosting growth, reining in fiscal deficit

Economic slowdown leaves Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with a difficult choice in her second Budget - whether to rein in fiscal deficit or widen ot to stimulate the economy

As the Modi government prepares to present its annual Budget on February 1, economic growth is on a downward trajectory and poised to be the lowest in over a decade.
 
This leaves Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with a difficult choice in her second Budget — whether to rein in the Centre's fiscal deficit at the targeted level or widen it to stimulate the economy. The fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP for the current financial year seems challenging and the one for next year at 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), given in the