As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley focused the Union Budget 2018 on farmers and the rural poor today, he has pegged the fiscal deficit target for next year at 3.3 per cent, higher than market estimates. Presenting its last full-year budget before the 2019 general elections and ahead of eight state elections this year, the government has made a slew of farm-focused announcements, raising the minimum support price to 1.5 times the production cost for Kharif crops, a key demand of distressed farmers. Mr Jaitley also announced what he called the world's largest government-funded healthcare scheme to cover 10 crore poor families, saying "50 crore beneficiaries will get Rs. 5 lakh per family per year."
