Union budget 2018: Jaitley must address housing, inflation, taxes & GST, say experts
Jaitley to present Union Budget on Thursday
The budget would need to address housing, taxation, inflation and a roadmap for corporate India as the country aims to surge ahead of other economies
India's finance minister Arun Jaitley will be presenting NDA's last federal budget ahead of the elections next year amid mounting pressure to balance the fiscal deficit.
Jaitley had earlier tabled the Economic Survey on Monday targeting a 7-7.5 per cent growth in 2018-19. The finance minister will, however, have to look at a number of things as presents his budget on Thursday in Parliament.
The budget would need to address housing, taxation, inflation and a roadmap for corporate India as the country aims to surge ahead of other economies in the near and long-term.
Monu Ratra, ED and CEO, India Infoline Housing Finance said: "Considering the government`s vision to achieve Housing for All by 2022, we believe affordable housing development requires a long-term perspective supported by easy home finance at very affordable interest rates."
Getamber Anand, Chairman, CREDAI and CMD, ATS Infrastructure Ltd. said, "The real estate opportunity to boost GDP mustn`t be missed by the finance ministry in this budget. We expect the government to increase the exemption limits for deduction of interest from the income of the middle class and salaried homebuyer."
Arjunpreet Singh Sahni, Executive Director, Solitaire Group.Pankaj Kumar Jain, Managing Director, KW Group said, "We have a lot of expectations from this year`s budget as the real estate sector is completely marred by rising input cost and week buying sentiments. We expect thefinance minister to announce a specific mechanism to regulate the cost of key raw materials like cement and steel to help the industry produce affordable housing units for the masses.
The finance minister will also be expected to provide a vision statement for the government's GST scheme with several traders still demanding more relaxation in several products across the board.
Siddharth Gupta, MD, Hicks India said, "We expect the government to re-look at GST rates on medical devices since currently it is pegged at 12 per cent which could affect the overall cost structure of the healthcare sector and even a minor relief may result in delivery of affordable healthcare services to the wider population. Also, some basic products like thermometers and hot water bottles should be moved to tax slab of 5 from 18 per cent."
Meanwhile, political parties are bracing for the budget with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi likely to chair a meeting of opposition leaders on Thursday to plan a joint strategy for the ongoing budget session.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already declared the government will be presenting an "election budget", with most other opposition parties of the same the view.