Interim Budget focused on rural and agri sector, notes DBS bank

India's interim budget for the financial year 2019-20 has a strong focus on the rural and agricultural sector and also suggests that economic priorities have taken precedence, according to a leading bank here.

Presenting the interim budget for FY 2019-20 ahead of the general elections due in April-May this year, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday proposed an array of incentives for both middle-class and farmers.

Singapore's DBS Bank has said that there was a marginal slippage in the FY19 and FY20 fiscal deficit targets, resulting in a sharp increase in the borrowing quantum.

Friday's budget announcements suggest that the economic priorities have taken precedence over near-term fiscal consolidation as the 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fiscal target stands delayed, Radhika Rao, economist at DBS' Group Research, wrote in a commentary on the Indian budget.

She said that the consumption-push and growth stimulus will be positive for growth, but limits scope for an ...