Budget will be growth oriented, says RBI Governor

Mumbai: With the Budget-making exercise in full swing, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said Budget 2021-22 is expected to be prudent and growth oriented.

Das before donning the hat of RBI Governor was a career bureaucrat and was directly involved in crafting of about 10 Budgets for the country including one in the aftermath of global financial meltdown in different capacities at the Finance Ministry.

In view of unprecedented pandemic and its impact on the economy, he said the government has maintained fiscal prudence in the response to deal with the crisis. "Naturally when we are recovering from a massive damage which pandemic has brought on the Indian economic, the budget has to be growth oriented. And also, let us keep in mind that during this year also, all the fiscal measures which the government has announced, I think has been very well calibrated very well targeted, and they have been very prudently drawn out," he said during interaction with the media after the policy announcement.

In fact, at the beginning of the pandemic, there was worry that the government's fiscal deficit will go haywire, he said, adding it has not gone beyond control. "I think the response of the government (so far) has been very calibrated and prudent. So, the budget next year also I expect to be very prudent but naturally, it has to be a growth oriented budget. That is something which is bound to happen. It's a no-brainer. It has to be a good supporting budget," he said. (PTI)