“Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday announced a budget that put boosting growth before painful reforms, slowing the pace of fiscal deficit cuts and seeking to put domestic and foreign capital to work,” Reuters reported last week.
The Finance Minister said that gross domestic product (GDP) growth would accelerate to between 8 and 8.5 percent in the fiscal year that starts in April, versus a 7.4 percent growth rate — the fastest pace in the world — that is expected for the current year.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, hit a six-year low in January which played in India’s favor as the country is a net oil importer. [Plummeting Oil Prices: Factors Pushing Them Further Down]
“India is about to take off,” Jaitley told lawmakers. “The world is predicting that this is India’s chance to fly.” [India About To Takeoff” As 2015-16 GDP Seen Between 8% to 8.5% – India’s 2015 Budget Recap]
After the budget announcement, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi tweeted that the budget would further reignite India’s growth engine.
“Union Budget 2015 is a Budget with a clear vision. It is a Budget that is progressive, positive, practical, pragmatic and prudent.
Budget 2015 has a distinct focus on farmers, youth, poor, neo-middle class and the Aam Nagrik. It delivers on growth, equity and job creation.
Budget is investment friendly and removes all doubts on tax issues. It assures investors that we have a stable, predictable and fair tax system.
From housing for all, jobs, health, education and total electrification, FM laid down goals to be achieved by 2022, India`s Amrut Mahotsav.
I congratulate FM for doing an excellent job in respecting aspirations of the States and at the same time delivering on National priorities.
Budget indicates our commitment to ensure that development of Eastern and North-Eastern parts of India gets an impetus and drives future growth.
Details of the Black Money law being introduced demonstrates our firm commitment to bring back every Rupee of Black Money stashed abroad.
Success of Jan Dhan Yojana is gladdening. Building on that, key schemes are announced that will comprehensively transform lives of the poor.
Suraksha Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram mark a shift from Jan Dhan to Jan Kalyan.
Atal Innovation Mission and SETU underline our commitment to enable innovation, entrepreneurship and start-ups to grow and shine in India.
FM @arunjaitley must be congratulated for this pro-poor, pro-growth, pro-middle class, pro-youth and paradigm shifting Budget.
2015 Budget will further reignite our growth engine, signalling the dawn of a prosperous future.#SabkaBudget”, the Prime Minister said.
But it’s not only the budget that focused recently investors’ attention. India has been an active and successful player on the geopolitical scene participating in the New World Order (NWO) architecture.
Last Thursday TASS news agency reported that India will start negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement with the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan within the next six months. India started working on the project last year when in November supported a proposal to establish a workshop to sign the agreement with the EEU. [India Planning Free Trade Zone With Eurasian Economic Union]
Although the U.S. dollar (USD) has surged to over an 11 year high, there is bad news ahead for the future of the USD as emerging nations are progressively steering away from the “greenback” ahead of the launch of the new BRICS bank.
U.S. Dollar Index $UUP 3Y Performance – Courtesy of StockCharts
A multi-national currency deal between Russia and India is looking more likely to be when, versus if.
The deal between the powerful BRICS nations of Russia and India may happen as early as 2016, according to Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak, TASS reported on February 27 (in Russian). [More De-Dollarization: India And Russia On The Verge Of Currency Agreement]
India’s economy is in a very good shape and looked after by great economists. However, let’s not forget that it is not only the budget that matters. India is a growing power on the geopolitical scene as the country actively participates in discussions with respect of different geopolitical membership structures like the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the new $100 billion BRICS Development Bank project.
Will India challenge militarily Russia or economically China in the future? Only time will show. In the meantime, the biggest democracy in the world is having its five minutes. The country is very lucky to have Nerendra Modi as a Prime Minister. As a very ambitious man, he will do everything to secure the future of his nation in Asia and on the global economic and geopolitical map.
On the investment side, Goldman Sachs is very optimistic on India. “Ultimately, the bullish case for India rests on two pillars: its favorable demographics, and the scope for catch-up from a very low base in investment, infrastructure and productivity,” analysts write in a note. “India is probably where China was in the early-2000s,” Sheila Patel, GS Asset Management CEO said.
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