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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley spoke to select journalists post Budget. Excerpts:
With the ₹1.5-lakh ceiling on employers’ contributions to the EPF, haven’t you increased the tax liability on the middle-class?
The government has to spend more but the fiscal deficit target has to be met. In a ₹20-lakh crore Budget, an additional ₹20,000 crore has been raised by taxing health, environment and the super rich. [Regarding] EPF, the provisions will start from April 1. People who save ₹1.5 lakh annually are in the 30 per cent tax bracket.
What about consolidation of PSBs and the proposal for a bad bank?
We first have to improve PSBs' functioning and also ask whether we need so many of them.
I have also budgeted ₹25,000 crore for recap. The Budget has announced a lot for asset reconstruction companies, Insolvency Code, resolution of financial firms and infrastructure dispute resolution. We don’t need to take a panic decision.
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