Budget 2018 LIVE: BJP's loyal salaried class wants tax exemptions raised

Budget 2018 LIVE: BJP's loyal salaried class wants tax exemptions raised

Will the Modi govt's last full Union Budget before general elections 2019 will be a populist one? All eyes are now on FM Arun Jaitley's Budget speech on Thursday

As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gets set to present Budget 2018, the last full Union Budget of the Narendra Modi-led central government in its present term, there is an anticipation that he will somewhat shed his

prudent stance in favour of a more populist stance one. The view emanates from the fact that this will be the finance minister’s last chance

to please the voters through a Budget 2018 before 2019 general elections.

Populism in the government’s annual budget could assume policy decisions like lower tax rate for the salaried class, lower corporate tax rates in tune with Trump’s benevolence for the corporate class in the US and big bonanzas for India’s farmers.

If the Economic Survey, prepared by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian and his team is anything to go by, Jaitley has all the ammunition that he needs to sound the election bugle for 2019 with this Budget. All he needs to do is lock, load and fire.

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