BUDGET 1999-2000
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BUDGET 98-99
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'FM has a problem coming up with good ideas'

Mohan Guruswamy

It's a timid and tepid Budget. It's better than last year's but that's not saying much. Once again, the bureaucrat in Yashwant Sinha got the better of him.

For instance, it does not address the problem of declining capital expenditure, particularly in the rural sector. It could have found money for this by stepping up disinvestment. He has not used the word privatisation at all. If you can't cut the subsidies, can't reduce salaries, then this is the only area from which you can retrieve funds.

I see many things which are good in this Budget. For instance, many of them can be traced to me. For instance, I have been pressing forn major incentives and tax release for housing. I was also a strong advocate of a bold gold scheme. I also kept pushing for a higher spending on agriculture. The Budget has all these things.

My problem with the FM is mostly because he was not willing to go further on issues like disinvestment and increase spending on health, education and rural infrastructure. For instance, I wanted a substantial increase on cigarette, excise duties so that the state can spend more on health. This he did not do.

I think the gold scheme lacks crucial elements. I had suggested a no-questions-asked freely tradeable bond. In other words, I was suggesting monetising the huge reserve of ideal gold in the country. We could have targeted for at least a thousand to 1,500 tonnes. This would have added to the country's reserves. Instead, the scheme as I can see it now is no different from the earlier ones which have not been very successful.

I do not think that Yashwant Sinha or anyone in his family is corrupt or involved in deal-making of any kind. My only complaint with him is that he is too much plaint and timid. He should tell the PM's cronies to go to hell more often.

If his daughter-in-law in lowa in the USA has good ideas -- I am sure she has many -- I don't see why she should not pass them on to the FM, particularly since he has a problem coming up with very many good ideas.

This whole Budget exercise reminds me of what G B Shaw used to say about cricket: 22 fools play and 22,000 fools watch.

It also reminds me of a line from an old Harry Belafonte song. It's clearest mud but it covers the ground.

Mohan Guruswamy was until recently advisor to Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha

Budget 1999-2000

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