NEW DELHI - India's government announced a multi-billion-dollar package of farm and infrastructure support in its budget for 2020/21 as it blew past its fiscal deficit target for the year, but the stimulus fell short of market expectations and battered stocks.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, presenting the 2020/21 budget for the financial year beginning April 1 to Parliament on Saturday , said 2.83 trillion Indian rupees will be allocated for agriculture and allied activities, including helping farmers set up solar power generation units as well as establishing a national cold storage to transport perishables.She also said the government will spend US$50.
For fiscal 2020/21, Ms Sitharaman set the fiscal deficit at 3.5 per cent as it boosts state funding to shore up a sagging economy that has intensified pressure on Mr Modi, who is already facing a public backlash over a new citizenship law seen as socially divisive. SHARES FALL Indian shares slid to an over three-month low on Saturday, with sentiment dented by the lack of sufficient stimulus in the budget to lift the economy, analysts said.
Ms Sitharaman announced the introduction of a new personal tax system under which she offered cuts for those ready to give up a myriad of existing tax breaks.