Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold pre-Budget consultations in two sessions today

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry said that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will lead pre-Budget consultations with stakeholders from diverse sectors in two sessions in New Delhi today in connection with the upcoming General Budget 2022-23. The meetings are taking place virtually.

Sitharaman will meet with officials from the services and trade sectors, and in the afternoon, she will also meet with a second group of specialists from industry, infrastructure, and climate change, according to the ministry.

As part of the pre-Budget discussions, Sitharaman had met virtually with infrastructure and financial sector stakeholders.

The next Budget will be the fourth of the Modi 2.0 administration's four budgets. The Budget will be presented against the backdrop of the Indian economy's modest recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This fiscal year's growth is predicted to be double-digit. In its most recent bi-monthly monetary policy review, the RBI forecasted 9.5 percent GDP growth in 2021-22.

The government expects a fiscal deficit of 6.8% of GDP in the coming fiscal year (GDP).

Budget 2022-23 is expected to be presented on February 1, during the first part of Parliament's Budget session, which generally starts in the last week of January each year.