<p class="title">The Centre is all set to breach its promise to keep the Budget size smaller as a percentage of GDP. Bucking the trend, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal’s interim Budget may be bigger in size than last year’s general Budget (FY19) which was a little below Rs 24.5 lakh crore.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The actual expenditure outlay in the Budget may be for three to four months but the projections will be made for the full year, sending a signal to stakeholders and investors that if the similar dispensation returns, it will stick to its promise.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among the benefits are the farm sector relief package costing Rs 1.25 lakh crore, a package for startups ranging up to Rs 200 crore and an undisclosed but substantial amount for women and youth of the country, an official close to the development told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The benefits to the farm sector could be in the form of direct fund transfer into their accounts combined with interest-free loans to the bottom over 80% marginal farmers, whose landholdings are minuscule.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Other expenses will be in the form of increased outlay for various sectors like agriculture, rural development with a special focus on MNREGS and railways, all of which have given their requirement for the central assistance for the entire financial year 2019-20.</p>.<p class="bodytext"> “This will be an interim Budget like never before,” he said taking a cue from Union Minister Arun Jaitley’s comment that the government would work in the larger interest of the economy and could go beyond the convention of an election-year Budget.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The move comes amid a consistent effort by the Centre to bring down the size of Union Budget as a percentage of the GDP every year. The general Budget was brought down from 14.2% in 2013 to 12.7% in 2018.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was expected to come down further this year but the Modi government in its last-ditch effort to appease voters, is all set to open its purse strings, throwing the rule books out of the window, sources said.</p>
<p class="title">The Centre is all set to breach its promise to keep the Budget size smaller as a percentage of GDP. Bucking the trend, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal’s interim Budget may be bigger in size than last year’s general Budget (FY19) which was a little below Rs 24.5 lakh crore.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The actual expenditure outlay in the Budget may be for three to four months but the projections will be made for the full year, sending a signal to stakeholders and investors that if the similar dispensation returns, it will stick to its promise.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among the benefits are the farm sector relief package costing Rs 1.25 lakh crore, a package for startups ranging up to Rs 200 crore and an undisclosed but substantial amount for women and youth of the country, an official close to the development told <span class="italic">DH</span>.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The benefits to the farm sector could be in the form of direct fund transfer into their accounts combined with interest-free loans to the bottom over 80% marginal farmers, whose landholdings are minuscule.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Other expenses will be in the form of increased outlay for various sectors like agriculture, rural development with a special focus on MNREGS and railways, all of which have given their requirement for the central assistance for the entire financial year 2019-20.</p>.<p class="bodytext"> “This will be an interim Budget like never before,” he said taking a cue from Union Minister Arun Jaitley’s comment that the government would work in the larger interest of the economy and could go beyond the convention of an election-year Budget.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The move comes amid a consistent effort by the Centre to bring down the size of Union Budget as a percentage of the GDP every year. The general Budget was brought down from 14.2% in 2013 to 12.7% in 2018.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was expected to come down further this year but the Modi government in its last-ditch effort to appease voters, is all set to open its purse strings, throwing the rule books out of the window, sources said.</p>