Will it be a 'dream budget' again?

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram will table the union budget today at 11a.m. in the Lok Sabha.

According to reports, the budget is likely to be a populist one, with special focus of agriculture and infrastructure development.

With five states to elect their assemblies in May and the CPI-M led Left Front assuming a belligerent stance on the railway budget, privatization of airports and the sale of PSUs, the central government is not likely to present a budget that would invite much criticism.

Sixty-year-old Chidambaram has been lauded for his bold stance on pro-market reforms and the measures he took to abolish red tape during his earlier tenure as finance minister of the United Front government in 1996.

The budget he presented in 1996-'97 has been termed as the 'dream budget'.