Post-Covid budget leaves little for petroleum

摘要

India’s annual budget, with a focus on healthcare, privatisation and infrastructure investment, may do little to ease the pressure on the country’s petroleum sector. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government shed fscal discipline to revive growth in a shrinking economy in its budget for the April 2021-March 2022 fscal year. Delhi’s fscal defcit of 9.5pc in 2020-21 and an estimated 6.8pc for 2021-22 means relinquishing a goal of reining in defcits to 3.0-3.5pc of GDP and risking a sovereign rating downgrade as it looks to combat the economic impact of Covid-19. At 10.8mn cases, India is the world’s second most-infected country after the US.