Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present her record seventh consecutive budget later this month. Having presented the interim Budget FY25 before the general elections, she will have the opportunity to revisit her fiscal math and rejig her revenue allocations. Whether she will pare down the fiscal deficit target of 5.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) using the record dividend received from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or expand flagship government programs will be keenly watched.
In that context, a comparative analysis of interim and full budgets during election years