Budget of 1993-94 Some Sceptical Notes

A Vaidyanathan The budget speech and subsequent public pronouncements by the finance minister and senior officials of the finance ministry exude confidence about the rapid revival of economic growth in the coming year and the pro- spect of achieving a sustained 5-6 per cent GDP growth rate soon thereafter without any serious difficulty either on the account of balance of payments or of domestic inflation. These expectations, it is argued in this note, are misplaced and there is reason to be sceptical about several of the budget's key claims.