The stock markets gave a thumbs up to the 2019 budget presented by interim finance minister Piyush Goyal, ahead of national elections after he announced that there is no major slippage in the fiscal deficit. The bond yields too remained stable. Stimulus to consumer driven economy and a shift from personal income tax based regime has been welcomed as it leaves more money in the hands of people to also look towards investment.

Stock markets were expecting the fiscal deficit to be around 3.6 per cent but an announcement that it would remain at 3.4 per cent came as a pleasant surprise. Sensex rose more than 400 points and the Nifty index too gained around 130 points during the budget speech.

Markets are now expecting that with fiscal deficit of 3.4 per and GDP of 8 per cent, there is scope for the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates. For the farmers & rural masses sum left in their hands amounts to around ₹135,000 crore. For the middle class, the sum left in hands is ₹18,000 crore. For the salaried class the hiking of tax slabs from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh could boost both consumption and investments significantly.

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