>>>Budget Highlights (2004-05)
>>>Details of Budget (2004-05)
What’s cheaper and what’s got dearer
Cheaper
Silk
Cotton textiles
Non-leather footware
Computers
Diagnostic Kits
Dairy Items
Tractors
Dearer
- All items falling under services sector
- Phone bills, hotel bills
- Contact lenses
- Steel
- Refined palm oil
Fiscal discipline to be maintained
Foreign investors were keenly watching the fiscal numbers for cues on the fiscal policy. But finance minister P Chidambaram laid to rest any worries on the fiscal side by announcing that fiscal deficit is estimated to be Rs 1.37 lakh crore, which is estimated 4.4 per cent of the estimated GDP. That’s good news and suggests that the government is on its way to fiscal consolidation. While foreign investors will see this as a big positive, it’s unlikely that they will rush to invest in the Indian market right now, and are more likely to adopt a selective buying approach in the Indian market slowly.
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