Budget failed to raise new hopes

Hyderabad,
February 28: Terming the union budget for 2013-14 as disappointing, YSR
Congress has said the insight suggests that hard days are ahead as UPA II seems
to have given up all efforts to revitalise the economy and failed to raise any
new hopes.

“The
Finance Minister hinting at imports of coal and gas only suggest that there
would be more hike in power tariff which also leads to unemployment, “senior
leader DA Somayajulu told reporters here on Thursday.

The
budget has nothing to look forward to and does not give rise to any new hopes
though it has made some symbolic gestures of increasing facilities to certain
sections while in reality the governance is marred by indecisiveness and the
economic activity is badly hit by policy paralysis.

The
fiscal deficit /GDP ratio is pegged at 5.2 per cent, major portion of it has
been used to fill the revenue deficit instead of creating capital assets. The
current account expenditure which the government has indicated, is well above
the permissible mark. This is a sign of panic, he said.

No mention of agriculture in budget

There
was no proper mention on agriculture in the budget but for some symbolic
gesture to Northeast. While Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal put together produce
the major share of paddy and farmers here are in distress, there was no mention
of any scheme to provide them succor. Though 18 per cent of the total loans
should be given to agriculture as per RBI directive the Finance Minister had
juggled the figures in this aspect, he said.

The
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme too is based on some assumptions and not on
definite terms, he said 

Farmers
were expecting waiver of loans or interest but the Chidambaram budget went
ahead on the premise that all is well in the agriculture sector though the
reality is otherwise.

With
coal and other mining activity coming to a standstill and the government,
afraid of scams, not giving the nod for exploration it has decided to import
coal which will increase our deficit and increase unemployment.

The
generalised view that the economic growth has slowed down worldwide is a
fallacy as we cannot compare our economy with that of developed countries as
budget vis-à-vis population would be very different.

While
China, having manifold earnings through exports, could sustain a healthy growth
rate, our performance has been degrading as there was indecisiveness at the
highest level. The Prime Minister, he said, is acting like a referee instead of
leading from the front and taking proactive decisions.

 The
only silver lining is the return of the industrial allowance.

The
budget as a whole is utterly disappointing as it does not raise the hope of
rejuvenating the economy, he said.

On
the vibrant part of economy, he said capital vs loan ratio which fell from
101:100 to 43:100 during Chandrababu Naidu term was back to 135:100 when YSR
was Chief Minister as there was heavy economic activity, he said.