(LiveMint)
Finance minister Arun Jaitley is likely to unveil several steps to spur investments as the government seeks to boost economic growth and accelerate job creation when he presents the federal budget on 1 February, the last full-year one before general elections are due in 2019, a person familiar with the development said.
The government will allocate more funds for infrastructure and rural development, and offer sops for politically important constituencies such as the middle class, farmers, and small and medium enterprises, the person said, requesting anonymity.
Jaitley is likely to accord priority to projects related to affordable housing, rural roads and railways that could quicken the pace of economic growth as well as create jobs, said a government official, who also requested anonymity. Building rural infrastructure will be among the government’s top priorities given widespread farm distress and upcoming elections to eight state assemblies. The Indian economy, Asia’s third largest, is forecast to expand 6.5% in the year to 31 March, the slowest pace in at least four years, partly the result of demonetization and implementation issues related to the goods and services tax (GST).
