Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s bold gamble of letting the fiscal deficit slip out of his hands may still have paid off had he articulated a vision for economic reforms in the debut Budget of the United Progressive Alliance II (UPA II) government. A further fiscal stimulus of Rs 40,000 crore, through additional Plan expenditure for rural infrastructure, has pushed the gross fiscal deficit of the Centre (6.8 per cent of GDP) and states (4 per cent of GDP) to double digit levels for 2009-10, a throwback to the early 1990s.

Source: Indian Express Link Below