FM Sitharaman Meets President Murmu Ahead of Union Budget Presentation

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 1st Feb. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with state ministers Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Karad, and Finance Secretary TV Somanathan, called on President Droupadi Murmu ahead of the Union Budget 2023 being tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

As is tradition, the Finance Minister met with the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before proceeding to Parliament to present the Union Budget. Ms Sitharaman is presenting her fifth budget.

“Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, MoS Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” the President tweeted.

Before the Budget is tabled in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over a cabinet meeting at 10 a.m.

Speaking to the media ahead of the Budget, MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated that the Budget would reflect the people’s expectations.

“UnionBudget2023 will meet the expectations of every section of society. The PM Modi government has always worked in the favour of the people of the country”, Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said.

MoS Finance Dr B Karad said that the “Country has made good recovery from COVID. If we look at the Economic Survey, all sectors are making progress. Compared to other countries, our economy is good. When the PM took oath in 2014, India was 10th (in terms of economy), today it is fifth.”

Sitharaman tabled the pre-budget Economic Survey for 2022-2023 on January 31, the first day of Parliament’s budget session.

The Finance Minister placed a copy of the Economic Survey, 2022-23 (in English and Hindi) on the table, along with Highlights and a Statistical Appendix.

The budget session of Parliament, which began with the President’s address to a joint sitting of the houses, will last 27 sittings until April 6, with a month-long recess to examine the budget papers in between.

The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, gave insights into the state of the economy and various indicators in the current financial year 2022-23 (April-March) and outlook for the next year.

Meanwhile, addressing reporters outside Parliament before the start of the budget session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Our Finance Minister will present one more Budget before the country tomorrow. In today’s global circumstances, not only India but the entire world is looking at India’s budget. Amid the unstable global economic situation, India’s Budget will attempt to meet the hopes and aspirations of the common citizens. I firmly believe that Nirmala Sitharaman will make all efforts to meet those aspirations.”

This will be PM Narendra Modi’s final full-fledged Union Budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Union Budget will be delivered in paperless form this year, as it has been the previous two years.

The Rajya Sabha’s 259th Session (Budget) is expected to end on April 6. Both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha will adjourn on February 13 to allow the Standing Committees to consider the Demands for Grants of Ministries and Departments and prepare their Reports. They will reconvene on March 13.