Tax buoyancy cannot continue year after year, says DEA secy Ajay Seth

Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth spoke on the government's thinking behind the major budget projections and the fiscal math

A day after the Interim Budget was tabled in the Parliament, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth spoke to Ruchika Chitravanshi and Asit Ranjan Mishra on the government’s thinking behind the major budget projections and the fiscal math. Edited excerpts: 

Tax revenue projections show a conservative budgeting. The buoyancy has been reduced from 1.4 in FY24 to 1.1 for the next year. Can you explain the thinking behind this? 

I have treated FY23-24 as the first year where all segments are doing well. In 2022-23, there were still a few areas that were coming out of the impact of the pandemic.