Union Budget 2018 to be presented on February 1

The Budget 2018 comes months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bold decision to roll out the GST.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Union Budget for the financial year 2018-19 on February 1, aimed at boosting economic growth through additional spending.

The Budget session of Parliament will commence from January 29. President Ramnath Kovind will address the joint sitting of the two Houses on January 29 and the Economic Survey will be tabled on the same day, Parliamentary Affairs minister Ananth Kumar has said.

The first phase of the session will be from January 29 to February 9. After a recess, Parliament will meet again from March 5 to April 6, Kumar said.

The Winter session of Parliament ended today.

The Budget 2018 comes months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bold decision to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which has slammed the brakes on Asia's third-largest economy.

With uncertainty over how quickly the economy will recover, economists believe that the new Budget is likely to echo what India has become accustomed to in the past -- expansion of spending programmes rather than fiscal restraint.

Indian economy has shaken off the effects of demonetisation and GST rollout as the GDP growth surged by 6.3 percent in the September quarter compared to 7.5 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year. India’s economic growth had decelerated to three-year low of 5.7 percent in the June quarter.