Mangalore : This time’s Budget is an interim event ahead of the Full Fledged Budget to be tabled in June- July this year after elections, we were sure that no major shocks by way of changes in tax laws were on the cards.

However, knowing fully well that India has immense potential with 15% of world population living in this part of the Globe, there is should be a sense of urgency in our strategies which is being missed due to reasons like elections and parliamentary bottlenecks. We need to be on firefighting mode and mere intentions and forecasts without action on the ground will prove costly to the country, said KCCI President, Mohammed Ameen.

The non-plan expenditure is expected to be Rs 12 lakh crore with Rs 2.46 lakh crore out of which being earmarked for Food and Fuel Subsidies. Fiscal Deficit needs to be urgently brought down to 3% levels to contain inflation and ensure that the Economy grows to its full potentials.

It is heartening to hear that on the international front, we have been able to consolidate by reducing Current Account Deficit from USD 88 billion of last year to USD 45 billion this year. But we need to attract long term capital flows from abroad towards infrastructure and power sector growth by building trust that our economy is on sustained growth path, he added.