- Astha Raut
- 29 Jan 21
- Budget

The circumstances that surround the release of the Union Budget 2021-22 this year can be described as a mixture of apprehension and optimism. The pandemic outbreak, followed by nationwide lock down shook the financial market like never before.
This time, the circumstances under which the Finance Minister will roll out the Union Budget 2021-22 will be exceptional and always remembered. The Budget 2021-22 will be created with the backdrop of a significant recession having -23.9% and -7.5% growths in the first and second quarter of FY-2020, respectively. This time the country will witness a budget that reflects a negative growth, which has only happened four times in the Indian history (1958-59, 1966-67, 1973-74 and 1980-81).
Two years back, the economy grew only 4.2%, making people brood over the thought of having enough jobs available for the market demands or not. For the big year following the pandemic, taxpayers would indeed look up for several considerations, tax reductions, subsidies, and other perks to cope with the pandemic's impact. Whereas, the MSME sector, comprising almost 65 million enterprises, would expect easier access to capital, lenient policy, and other hosts of measures to help curb the economic impact triggered by the pandemic.
India's GST collections have indeed bounced back in December with Rs 1.15 lakh crores, making it the highest since the tax implementation in July 2017. At Rs 42 lakh crores in January, the foreign exchange reserves are at its highest but still not out of a crisis. As per CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy), unemployment has surged to 8.84% in the urban areas in December, while rural unemployment is at 9.15%. Moreover, the demands for jobs remain high under MNREGA (the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) in the post-covid situation.