After struggling to understand the economic
survey and budget documents for more than 36hours, I have concluded that at
least in matters of government, ignorance is actually bliss.
In my view, a presentation that makes
overwhelming use of technical jargon, complicated arguments, and statistical
manipulation, usually implies lack of conviction in the presenter. Moreover, a
presentation which does not take into consideration the comprehension level
and linguistic abilities of its audience is a futile exercise. Usually such
presentations are the outcome of either poor communication skills of the presenter;
or mala fide intent of the presenter. Presenters tactically overuse technical
jargon and complicated arguments to overwhelm the audience so that they could
be distracted from noticing the shortcomings.
In my view, the latest budget and economic
survey are clear cases of poor communication. They follow the principle of “Form
over Substance”, as these conceal more than what they reveal. I would not go to
the extent of terming it a case of mala fide intent, but there is
definitely incongruence and lack of conviction on many counts.
In her speech, the finance minister used a lot of
jargon like “digital economy”, “Fintech”,
“Technology enabled development”, “energy transition”, “Unified Logistics
Interface Platform”, “Chemical-free Natural Farming” “G2C, B2C and B2B services”,
“Drone as a service (DaaS), “Battery as a Service (BaaS), “Design Linked
Manufacturing (DLM)”, “Blockchain”, “Digital Banking Units”, “Deep-Tech”, etc.,
The audience for her budget speech is supposed to be the members of parliament
and 140crore Indians. I am sure a large majority of this audience (including many
of her cabinet colleagues) does not understand this jargon. Obviously, the
economic survey and budget presentation has been prepared by “professional
type” managers engaged by the government, who may be totally disconnected from
the ground realities.
There are some glaring
examples of goal incongruence in the budget. For example, climate change,
energy transition, clean energy etc. have been cited as core tenets of new
development paradigm. However, using ethanol produced from sugarcane, running
electric vehicles on batteries charged with thermal power, and burning biomass
pellets with coal in thermal plants do not concur with this tenet. It is widely
acknowledged that sugarcane is one of the most water intensive crops.
Admittedly, water in India is highly energy intensive. Ethanol extracted from
sugarcane produced using water pumped through diesel pump sets is not exactly
clean fuel and it certainly does not help in climate change efforts.
The finance minister said
that “five to seven per cent biomass pellets will be co-fired in thermal power
plants resulting in CO2 savings of 38 MMT annually.” The research however shows
that biomass burning in power plants emits 150% the CO2
of coal, and 300 – 400% the CO2 of natural gas, per unit energy produced. (see
here)
The finance minister
stated that “The animation, visual effects, gaming, and comic (AVGC) sector
offers immense potential to employ youth”. Only a few years ago the government
had banned some AVGC Apps arguing that these are misleading the youth of the
country. Many organs of the government and the Political party of FM vehemently
argue that social media is distracting the youth of the country from the right
path. How does she reconcile these two? If there is recognition within the
government that social media is now integral to the economy, then the first step should
have been to lift the ban from TikTok.
This is Tuesday afternoon
and Children of the household are uncertain about getting the evening meal. The
finance minister is asking the children to make merry because she will be
hosting a gala dinner on Sunday.
Millions of Indian youth
who are looking for employment cannot wait through the Amrutkaal to get jobs.
They needed it yesterday. The government managers need to understand that if an
engineering graduate does not get a job within 6months of his passing out, the
chances of his getting a suitable job for the rest of his life reduce materially,
because he has to then compete with the fresher graduates.
The finance minister
emphasised that “Our government constantly strives to provide the necessary
ecosystem for the middle classes – a vast and wide section which is populated
across various middle-income brackets – to make use of the opportunities they
so desire.” A plain reading of this phrase would mean the government has done
enough for the middle classes. Now they are on their own.
RBI and most experts have
cautioned the government that the recovery from pandemic lows is fragile and
would need to be kept supported. Disregarding the advice, the government has
decided to fully withdraw most Covid related stimulus. Food and Fertilizer
subsidies have drastically cut. Rural development and social sector allocations
have also been cut. Expenditure on health has also been cut. Of course, this
all is done in the name of fiscal consolidation. I understand it is a tough
choice , but if I must choose between 1000 km of new highway and food to
800million people for one year, I will choose the latter.
The finance minister
defined “transparency of financial statement and fiscal position” as a fundamental tenet of the budget process. However, it appears that in some cases the
economic survey and budget documents have tried to evade or manipulate the
statistics. The data points have deliberately chosen to show the latest numbers
in good light. Points that could have hurt stock markets were evaded or manipulated
in the budget speech. In some cases numbers have been stated ambiguously.
For example consider the
following:
·
The
finance minister skipped mentioning about restricting the practice of bonus
stripping.
·
The actual
growth in capital expenditure is yet to be figured out by experts.
·
The
government has proposed Rs2/litre excise duty on diesel wef October 2022, i.e.,
2HFY23. Instead of saying it in these many words, the FM chose to say “Blending
of fuel is a priority of this Government.
To encourage the efforts for blending of fuel, unblended fuel shall
attract an additional differential excise duty of ` 2/ litre from the 1st
day of October 2022”. As per her government order, it is mandatory to blend
ethanol with petrol. Only high speed diesel is unblended fuel.
·
In last
year's budget a whole deal of emphasis was given on disinvestment and
privatization of banks etc. Nothing happened in the current year. The finance
minister evaded even a cursory mention of this in her latest speech. If the
government is so concerned about markets and investors, does it not hold any
accountability to investors who would have acted on the promise of
disinvestment and privatization?
·
The
finance bill makes a significant effort to tighten the regulation over
charitable institutions. There was no mention of this in the budget speech.
There is so much more to say, but I think I
have broadly made my point.