Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed parliament today with details of the Union Budget 2021, the first after a difficult year for the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She announced foreign direct investment (FDI) hike in insurance to 74 per cent from 49 per cent with foreign control under safeguards. The Finance Minister has set a target of Rs 16.5 lakh crore as agricultural credit. Her budget speech comes after a difficult year for the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down businesses for months, leading to lost earnings, curtailed consumer spending and job cuts. "The total impact of Atmanirbhar Bharat and measures by RBI was Rs 27.1 lakh crore, which amounts to 30 per cent of GDP," Ms Sitharaman said. "2021 is a year of many milestones," she said.
The ninth budget - including an interim one - of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put weightage on creating jobs and rural development - two areas hit hardest by the pandemic. Today's budget will have to go far beyond what the mini-budget in September 2019 achieved by reducing corporate tax, and the subsequent economy-booster announcements during the lockdown necessitated by the pandemic. The budget comes as an economic vaccine for the pandemic-battered economy and to steer India with the much-needed stimulus to boost demand and consumer confidence.
