• D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
  • Riyadh
  • Beijing
  • SG
  • D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
Semafor Logo
  • Riyadh
  • Beijing
  • SG


India’s new budget prioritizes spending through tax breaks

Feb 2, 2025, 2:53pm EST
South Asia
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds a folder with the Government of India’s logo.
Altaf Hussain/Reuters
PostEmailWhatsapp
Title icon

The News

India’s finance minister laid out a plan to cut taxes for middle-class earners in a bid to boost consumption in the world’s fifth largest economy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has previously focused on infrastructure investments, but the country’s annual budget, presented Saturday, marks a shift in New Delhi’s strategy against slowing economic growth.

Some 80% of taxpayers could benefit, with Goldman Sachs analysts forecasting that urban households particularly could see gains.

The budget reflects “an acceptance by the government that more than anything else, the private sector investments require robust consumer demand. Everything else… is secondary,” The Indian Express wrote.

AD

Other analysts, though, worried the shift wasn’t ambitious enough.

AD
AD