Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s sixth essay, also a pre-poll budget, was a pleasant surprise. Despite the challenge of facing a two-term anti-incumbency, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) passed on the opportunity to lure voters with freebies. Instead, it reiterated its commitment to fiscal dharma and laid down prudent fiscal targets.
In doing so FM Sitharaman has set a precedent. Is this a structural break? Will politicians be brave enough to no longer sacrifice good economics for short-term political gains that blow a hole in the country’s exchequer?
To answer this, Anil Padmanabhan spoke to Haseeb Drabu. Haseeb is an economist and former FM of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
