Budget 2023 Will Invigorate Virtuous Cycle Of Investment: Finance Ministry Report
Mumbai, Feb 16: The Union Budget 2023 commitment towards asset creation will invigorate the virtuous cycle of investment and crowd in private investment with large multiplier effects, according to the Finance Ministry’s Monthly Economic Review. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her 4th annual Union Budget 2023, has proposed a 35.4 per cent increase in capital expenditure to Rs 7.5 lakh crore from Rs 5.54 lakh crore estimated in FY2022.
“Union Budget 2022-23 commitment towards asset creation (public infrastructure development) will invigorate the virtuous cycle of investment and crowd in private investment with large multiplier effects which in turn will augment inclusive and sustainable growth,” the January review said.
According to the Ministry, the capex budget will power the seven engines of Gatishakti to reduce the infrastructure gap and facilitate private investment in the country. Rising consumption levels consequent to employment generation by the government’s capex will also induce private investment. Further, the production linked incentive (PLI) schemes in the 14 sectors will further incentivize private investment to achieve a higher export growth and enable viable import substitution in the country, it said. The fixed investment rate in India’s economy is thus poised to rise further from its 2021-22 ratio of 29.6 per cent of GDP.
According to the Ministry, the capex component in the budget 2022-23 will be financed by both domestic and foreign savings within the fiscal deficit of 6.4 per cent of GDP budgeted for central government and an additional 4 per cent capped for the state governments. That the increase in investment will be climate friendly is seen in sovereign green bonds making an entry as a new instrument to access savings.
“Foreign savings are also expected to play a greater role in financing investment as they have been doing through foreign direct investment (FDI), whose inflows have been rising over the last 6-7 years, and more recently through external commercial borrowings (ECB) that have been showing impressive growth in the current year,” it said. In addition, India’s equity market is well capitalized with both domestic and foreign savings to provide equity financing for investment, as Initial Public Offers (IPO), both in numbers and value, reach record levels in the current year.
Stating that the overall economic activity remained resilient amid the third wave of Covid-19 as India has learnt to move on with virus-based constraints, it said, “Once the uncertainty and anxiety caused by the Covid-19 virus recedes from people’s minds, consumption will pick up and the demand revival will then facilitate the private sector stepping in with investments to augment production to meet the rising demand. Barring external shocks – geo-political and economic – this scenario should play out for the Indian economy in 2022-23,” it added.
