The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Budget not transparent, says Gurumurthy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 05, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Budget not transparent, says Gurumurthy

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 4. S. Gurumurthy, noted columnist, financial adviser and co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, has said that the Budget 2005, presented to the Lok Sabha by the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, could at best be described as an "average good budget."

Speaking on the Budget at a programme organised by the Rotary Club of Bangalore-Midtown here on Friday, Mr. Gurumurthy said there are certain deceptive features and the Budget is not all that transparent. Most of that made out in the Budget speech is not contained in the budgetary provisions.

Several financial analysts and the media had "goofed up the Budget as great" within a short while after the it was presented to the Lok Sabha, he said. In reality, it will take time to comprehend the budget proposals. "It is a 600-page tightly printed document and I have only understood only 30 per cent of the Budget so far, despite reading it for 15 hours a day," he said.

Mr. Gurumurthy complimented the Finance Minister for the big allocation to education and midday meals scheme and said the "financial outlay should result in output" and this is the responsibility of the Government. The idea of retail lending using the services of micro finance institutions, which serve as intermediaries to commercial banks, will also work towards providing low cost credit, he said.

He said the gold scheme made out in the Budget is also welcome since the country had a massive gold stock of around two lakh tonnes of which unornamented gold was about 20,000 tonnes. The world gold market will collapse if India stopped gold purchases even for a limited period. Gold in India is in "black" and if the banks can obtain gold deposits, it will serve the country well and the private depositor.

Tax receipts

Mr. Gurumurthy said that it has become an established practice with Mr. Chidambaram to inflate the tax receipts. In the last Budget, it was estimated at 20 per cent although at the end the tax receipts were only 16 per cent. In the Budget 2005, the tax receipts have again been estimated at 21 per cent. A drop of one per cent would translate into a reduction of Rs. 3,060 crores made over to the States.

Further, the invitation extended to foreign direct investments and foreign institutional investments was only to reduce the Government's cost of borrowings. The business sector in India did not require foreign capital, he added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section

Budget not transparent, says Gurumurthy

Power shutdown

Four youth die in separate incidents

Arrested medical student did not write exams, says college

Head constable arrested on robbery charge

Around the City

In Bangalore Today

Safety norms not enforced strictly