Contrary to her lengthy budget announcements in the past, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's 2022 speech was the shortest ever by the number of words.
The FY23 Budget speech—her fourth as the Union finance minister—was about 9,690-word-long and went on for about an hour and a half. Her longest was more than 20,000 words in FY21 and took two hours and 42 minutes.
That may be because the minister skipped announcing the key divestment target and allocations made to schemes such as the rural jobs guarantee scheme.
But she sure made some Twitter users happy!
My budget expectation is simple - keep it short, please wind up the speech by 12noon. #ktxbai
February 1, 2022The other highlights from her budget speech were a spike in FY23 capital expenditure by 35% and more-than-expected gross borrowings. The fiscal deficit target, however, was lowered than the revised estimates for the ongoing fiscal, along with food, fuel and fertilizer subsidies.
The bonds market was not enthused. The 10-year bond yield spiked 20 basis points to 6.89%—the highest since July 1, 2019.
No substantial changes were made to the direct tax either.
Salaried Class to Nirmalaji, waiting for income tax slabs. #Budget2022 pic.twitter.com/9498x6GKN4
February 1, 2022Budget speech ends in 1.5 hours. That was a quick speech. But people left scratching their heads on what has happened in direct tax for individuals !
February 1, 2022Sitharaman also announced a new provision on crypto tax.
Government has imposed 30% tax on crypto
February 1, 2022
Le People : #Budget2022 #cryptocurrency pic.twitter.com/B4HuEdn1XJ30% tax on Profit from Crypto.#Budget2022 pic.twitter.com/zyXQPN3ELJ
February 1, 2022Read the full Budget 2022 speech here:
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