The Budget proposals have some positives and some negatives. I was surprised that the finance minister has not made major pronouncements on disinvestment or reforms.
The positives are the stimulus provided by considerable expenditure on urban renewal, the social sector and rural development.
The stimulus provided by the removal of surcharge on personal income tax will be high.
Abolition of the fringe benefit tax is a strong positive. The fact that rate in excise duty and service tax rates in the stimulus packages are untouched is good. A major positive is that the GST will be implemented by April 1, 2010.
I was enthused by the growth target being set at 9%. The government will try to achieve that number from the Jan-Mar 2010 quarter onwards.
The negatives of the Budget is total lack of attention to the great potential affordable housing could provide in reviving growth. I thought the 50% increase in the MAT rate is a serious negative.