An investor’s prelude to the union Budget FY24
An informal survey of about 40 market participants, conducted in the past 4 days, indicates that unlike the previous budgets presented by the finance minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, the market’s expectations from the budget to be presented today might be negligible. In fact, most participants appear to be praying that the finance minister shall skip the investment and capital markets from her budget provisions altogether. No change in capital gains taxation is all they would wish for. One veteran portfolio manager summarized the broader market sentiment in one simple sentence - “The boat is in rough waters. All that I could wish for is that FM does not rock it at this time.” I would read the budget presented by the finance minister later today and assimilate the market’s reaction to it, keeping this in mind. How to read the budget? The budget should be read and analysed by investors, as they would read and analyse the annual report of a company they are invested in. If we consider Ind...