MADURAI: Even now it is not late for the government to rework on the Union Budget to give some respite to the common people, former Union finance minister P Chidambaram has said. Analyzing the budget at a function organized by Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Friday, he said the budget fails to account for three important international factors.
The world economy is slowing down due to various factors with the UN estimating roughly 2% to 2.5 % growth. Second, world trade is going to see a sluggish trend according to World Trade Centre estimates with countries going for protectionist policies.
Third, the Ukraine war is showing signs of worsening, which will have its effect on the world economy. The budget has no mention of these factors, thus showing an ostrich attitude in the face of adversity, he said.
Chidambaram said that consumption, government capital expenditure, private capital expenditure and exports are the four engines of growth in any economy. There are times when all these engines work at optimum and also times when one or two of them work less.
Unfortunately, this government is heavily dependent on its capital expenditure as its numbers accept that consumption is shrinking, private players are not confident to invest in capital expenditure while exports have taken a drubbing due to international factors.
