Fiscal consolidation: Yes. Banking reforms: Wait

Next-generation reforms are at the bottom of the list of nine priorities of this Budget

This is Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s seventh successive Budget, the highest by any finance minister, surpassing Morarji Desai’s six. Also, this is Sitharaman’s shortest Budget speech (leaving out the Interim Budget of February). She took just one hour and 21 minutes to read it.
 

The big takeaway from the Budget is the government’s commitment to stick to the fiscal-consolidation path. The estimated fiscal deficit for FY25 has been reduced from 5.1 per cent, presented in the Interim Budget, to 4.9 per cent. This has been done without compromising the budgeted capex outlined in the Interim Budget