The Indian Budget 2018 is likely to devote its attention to the rural, agriculture sector with an extended focus on infrastructure and healthcare. While experts are just anticipating the sentiments of the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his moves, it is being suggested that 2018 Union budget will be all about rural sector and ancillary activities.
India’s Consumption Story
With a larger focus on consumption, the Indian budget is likely to have a prolonged impact on the growth story of Rural India. The rural demand has already witnessed an upward trend after three years of laggard growth. Not only that, wages of rural habitants is also increasing. In September 2017, the nominal rural wages were up by 7.1 percent year-on-year (YoY), although the real rural wages shot up by a by 4.5 percent year-on-year (YoY).
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The government is also focussing on boosting farmer’s income and ameliorating his lifestyle standards. The Indian ministry is committed to doubling farmer’s income by 2022. For this purpose, it has allocated a sum of Rs 1.07 lakh crore. This sum will be used towards rural development, although more than a quarter of it will be allocated to MNREGA for FY2017-18.
Employment Creation: Government’s priority
Other government measures are giving impetus to employment opportunities and infusing growth into rural sector. With the ongoing effect of demonetisation and the subsequent Goods and Service Tax Act (GST), it is rather a pressure for the government to create abundant employment opportunities. The unprecedented transformations have somehow crunched the demand for low-skill jobs.
Even auto sector and ancillary sectors are likely to get a boost. Moreover, with the increasing demand, the FMCG sector is all likely to surge in the coming years. In all likeliness, the finance minister will announce a slew of rural economy policies. What will Union Budget 2018 hold for the Indian citizens still remains to be seen. The government will announce the Union budget 2018 on February 1, 2018.
