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Populist budget likely

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday will introduce the Union Budget 2007 in the Lok Sabha at 11 a.m.

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The budget is likely to focus more on improving infrastructure as well as boost farming. With Uttar Pradesh going to the polls, financial experts feel Chidambaram will introduce measures for the upliftment of the farming community, which forms two-thirds of the population.

Chidambaram is also expected to announce a slew of populist measures aimed at boosting the image of the United Progressive Front, as no finance minister can ignore political compulsions.

The Economic Survey released on Tuesday has raised concern over the agricultural sector. It had predicted a 9.2 per cent GDP growth for the Indian economy.

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The survey lauded the IT and ITES sector for generating employment in the country.

Meanwhile, the poll debacle in Punjab and Uttarkhand has also turned the heat on the finance minister as well as the prime minister, with many members of parliament from the ruling Congress and its allies criticising the government for not reining in the soaring prices of essential commodities.

Reports said Lalu Prasad, RJD chief and the railway minister, has approached Congress president Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh, and raised his concerns over the price hike.

Besides agriculture and infrastructure, the finance minister is expected to propose higher spending on education and employment generation.

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