Parliament passes Budget, Nirmala Sitharaman says will meet growth forecast

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 29

The Parliament on Tuesday passed the Union Budget with the Rajya Sabha returning the Appropriation and Finance Bills to the Lok Sabha without any changes, barring those proposed by the government.

Blames Ukraine crisis for inflation

We are also facing the situation of a full-blown war in Ukraine. It seems to be having an impact on all countries like the way pandemic had. Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister

This brought to end the two-month parliamentary approval process for the Union Budget for the new fiscal starting April 1.

Replying to the debate on the Bills in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Budget for the next fiscal would attract private investment, leading to predictable economic recovery in the years ahead. Acknowledging inflationary pressures amid Opposition’s concerns over rising prices, Sitharaman said the government was “conscious of inflation” but added the two Bills were presented in the backdrop of the Budget 2022-23 that didn’t factor the Omicron wave of Covid-19 or the Ukraine war.

“In the Budget presentation, I had not taken into account Omicron and now we are also facing the situation of a full-blown war in Ukraine. It seems to be having an impact on all countries like the way the pandemic had,” the minister said.

She, however, flagged that while 32 countries (OECD report) used taxes for economic revival, India did not do so. “Last year, we did not fall back on any increase in taxation rates in the name of Covid tax,” she said. The PM had directed not to mobilizse resources by taxing people, she added.

On private investment, she said there was nothing like “us versus them”. During the discussion, several members raised concerns over rising prices in the country.

In veiled references to “self-doubting eminent persons commenting that the Indian economy has a problem”, FM said, “The FDI inflow in 2020-21 was $81.72 billion and $74.39 billion in 2019-20. India has continued to be in the top five FDI recipient countries, as per a UNCTAD report.”

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