The Union Budget 2017-18 is a damp squib that failed to push through bold reforms, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Thursday though he complimented finance minister Arun Jaitley for not doing anything “reckless and disruptive” after the demonetisation exercise. Chidambaram has presented eight Union budgets during his stints as the country’s finance minister. Chidambaram described the tax cut as “tokenism” and said 1.98 crore taxpayers have got a relief of Rs 5,000 per person. He pointed out that last year’s budget documents had pegged nominal GDP at Rs 150,65,010 crore. “According to the CSO’s press release in January, 2017, the advance estimate is Rs 151,92,588 crore.

Source: Hindustan Times February 02, 2017 12:33 UTC