Union Budget 2010-11: Too Many Gambles
Arun Kumar
CESP, SSS, JNU
Mainstream, March 5, 2010
Union
Budget 2010-11 was expected to be an innovative exercise given the difficult
circumstances in which it was being framed and that the most experienced
politician of the present government was at the helm. There have been uncertainties
about growth, high rate of inflation (especially in food items) and pressures
for withdrawal of the stimulus. The Indian economy is recovering but the global
situation remains uncertain given that the major world economies are plagued by
persistent high rates of unemployment and even higher under- employment. Even
the IMF is forecasting anemic recovery in 2010. Other experts are worried that
the premature withdrawal of the stimulus in the advanced countries (and for
this there is considerable right wing pressure) could lead to a double dip
recession. Just as in 2008, this would immediately jeopardize Indian economy’s
growth as well. This would certainly transpire if the stimulus is withdrawn in India India
Growth and Inflation:
Background to the Budget
There
appears to be an attempt at talking the economic sentiment up by constantly
presenting a bright picture of the economy. This works some of the time but not
all of the time. In 2007-08, it was argued that India
would not be affected by the impending global crisis because it is de-coupled
and that India India
There are
reasons to doubt the official growth rates being put out. It is stated that the
rate of growth of manufacturing was 18.5% in December 2009 and that exports
have started rising in the last few months so that the rate of growth is likely
to have accelerated to 7.2% for the year 2009-10. If this is so, then for the
previous year when industry as a whole was stagnant for more than 10 months,
agriculture was showing zero or negative growth and large parts of the services
sector were experiencing nil or negative growth (like, hotels, finance, real
estate, air travel and commercial transport) then how could the economy have
been growing at 5.1%? Be that as it may, only time will tell what the real
story of growth for this period was.
The
likelihood of lower growth (than official rate) in 2008-09 is corroborated by
the tax data in the budget. The gross tax revenue for 2008-09 was projected at
Rs.6,87,715 crores, in revised estimates but it turned out to be Rs.6,27,949
crores, about Rs.70,000/- crores less and in the actuals now released, it is
Rs.6,05,298 crores, that is about Rs.82,000 crores less. Customs duties were
less by about Rs.19,000 crores because of decline in imports, excise
collections declined by about Rs.30,000 crores due to both the decline in
output and tax cut and direct taxes were down by about Rs.44,000 crores.
This
picture suggests that many parts of the organized sector, which pays the bulk
of the taxes was in a state of decline in 2008-09. Reports suggest that the
spill over effects of this decline on the unorganized sectors were strong. Consequently,
employment in urban areas was impacted adversely due to these trends. The rural
areas were spared due to the implementation of the NREGS. The corporation tax collections
which were rising in the previous years at 25-35% hardly rose 10% (less than
the GDP growth rate). This suggests that the additional purchasing power in the
rural areas due to NREGS and loan waiver was not enough to stem the decline in
the profits of industry. In other words, while these rural schemes only
prevented the demand from falling rapidly but could not keep up the demand in
the economy. Some use the argument that the share of consumption in the economy
has risen to support their contention that consumption rose. This is not quite
true since the share of consumption rose because the share of capital formation
fell sharply and the two have to add up to one (if one falls the other has to
rise). So the 5.1% growth remains a mystery.
Data from
the Economic Survey 2009-10 indicates that in 2008-09, there was strong growth
in three components of the economy belonging to the services sector – firstly,
Transport, Storage & Communication (11.6%), secondly, Financing, Insurance,
Real Estate & Business Services (10.1%) and finally, Community, Social and Personal
Services (13.9%). How there could have been such strong growth in these sectors
when Transport was down as indicated by automobile and especially commercial
vehicle sales showing a down trend, finance sector was in a crisis globally and
also in India and real estate, advertising and other business services were in
a crisis and on the decline. Yes, communication and government services
continued to grow as earlier but that could not have compensated for the
general decline in all major sectors, like tourism, hotels, private education
services and so on.
Since early
2008, inflation in food prices has plagued the economy even though the general rate
of inflation based on the WPI was showing a declining trend since mid 2008 due
to the global price trends. The severe drought in 2009 accelerated food
inflation. However, the situation is puzzling given that the country had ample
foodgrain stocks of 52.5 million tons of rice and wheat in July 2009 when
according to buffer stock norms the requirement was 26.9 million tons. To begin
with, the anticipated shortage of food grains during Kharif was about 16
million tons but now the shortage is anticipated to be only about 9 million
tons. Even if the shortage was the higher figure, the buffer stocks were
adequate to control the prices of cereals if not pulses. But the rice prices
shot through the roof.
The
government was slow in admitting that the drought was severe and that
production would be short. Consequently, it was slow to intervene and the
situation got aggravated due to inflationary expectations building up. In the
past when the foodgrain output declined but stocks situation was good, prices
rose but moderately unlike in 2009. The situation also deteriorated because now
in the foodgrain markets, there are those with deep pockets who can hold
stocks. Unfortunately, there is no data on private stocks so one can only guess
how the speculators made a bad situation worse. Even then timely action by the
government with its huge stocks could have kept the situation in check and
prevented the private players from hoarding. In the case of pulses and oilseeds
the situation is different since there is hardly a buffer stock for these and
import of pulses is not easy.
It is not
that per capita consumption of food has risen which could have raised demand
and prices. The per capita availability (proxy for consumption) after peaking
in 1991 at 510 grams per day has been down (by up to 20% in 2001). It has risen
thrice to come close to the peak figure - in 1995 (495.4 grams), in 1997 (503.1
grams) and 2002 (494.1 grams). Each of these years corresponded to a good
harvest. The lows were in the years of poor harvest. In 2008, the crop was good
and NREGS and loan waiver had pumped in purchasing power but the net
availability in 2008 remained low at 436 grams. In 2009, with a drought and
lower production, less work on farms and lower incomes of the workers, the
demand for foodgrains cannot have risen. NREGS may at best compensate for the
loss of purchasing power of rural labour. The ruling high prices are likely to
ensure that per capita consumption this year will be low.
The middle
category of farmers do not go for NREGS so their demand could not have risen
for this reason. They would have benefited from the farm loan waiver schemes
and this could help them to retain their stocks and wait for a higher price
rather than sell them immediately in the market. However, foodgrain procurement
in 2008 was a record 54 million tons and even in 2009 Rabi season, it was good
enough to leave 52.5 million tons of stocks in July 2009. So, loan waiver did
not make a difference to the amount of foodgrain marketed by the farmers and
this could not be a reason for the higher foodgrain prices. The situation could
indeed have been different in the case of pulses and oil seeds.
Key Aspects of the
Union Budget
The Union
Budget projects expenditures of about Rs.11 lakh crores. It amounts to 18% of
GDP and about Rs.10,000 per person. This is large enough to give something to
every section of the population. No wonder, the FM announced, as is the case
every year, allocation to every section of society – women, SC/ST, unorganized
sectors, middle classes, corporate sector, farmers, small scale and so on.
However, as the FM notes in the beginning of the speech, “The Union Budget
cannot be a mere statement of Government accounts. It has to reflect the
Government’s vision and signal the policies to come in future.”
The vision
is incorporated primarily in the macroeconomic framework underlying the budget.
It is also expressed in statements like, “ … the focus of economic activity has
shifted towards the non-governmental actors, bringing into sharper focus the
role of Government as an enabler”. It is this last statement that is crucial to
understand the overall focus in the budget and the reason why the budget
complicates the situation regarding the twin problems of sustained growth and
inflation.
The
stimulus provided by the high fiscal deficit and lowering of indirect taxes (in
2008-2009) are sought to be reversed. Services tax is being extended to more
services. All this would jeopardize the possibility of sustained high growth as
well as raise the already high rates of inflation. More than anything else,
they would further fuel inflationary expectations and also lower demand
resulting in slow down. Indeed excise duties could have been raised selectively
on a few luxury products but an across the board rise would be inflationary.
Further, the increase could have been postponed to when the economy was on a
more firm footing.
Additional
taxes could have been raised through increases in direct taxes rather cutting
them. The loss of revenue due to this is about Rs.26,000 crores. This is being
partially made up through increased indirect taxes. It was possible to raise
more taxes through curtailing of tax expenditures of which a large part goes to
the corporate sector. According to the Receipts Budget, the total concessions to
all sections amounted to Rs.5 lack crores in 2009-10. While the FM is keen to
lower the subsidies offered to the common man but he is not willing to touch
the tax expenditures for the corporate sector and the well off sections.
The changes
in the slabs of Personal Income Tax benefit only about 3% of the population and
effectively about 1 % of those who pay significant amounts of income taxes. In
contrast, the increases in indirect taxes adversely affect the entire
population. The rise in the inflation rate consequent to raising indirect taxes
is like a tax on the common man. For the poor, a 20% rise in the food prices is
like a 13% tax on them. This is more than any benefit the budget could provide
to the poor. The tax changes suggested in the budget reflect the government’s
bias in favour of the well-off sections who are not really in need of any concessions
given their high living standards compared to the poor and the lower classes.
Issues Related to
Petroleum Product Prices and Taxes
Why the
increase in the indirect taxes on petroleum products? It is being stated that
this is to only reverse the tax cuts that were offered earlier and that too
only a part of the tax cut is being restored. It is argued that earlier in 2008
the price of crude was high and that is why the customs duties were lowered in
2007-08. It is also being argued that the petroleum companies are running up
losses at current prices and they need to be tackled. What is so sacrosanct
about restoring earlier tax rates? Why can’t the indirect tax rates be
permanently brought down? Finally, are the losses of the oil companies related to
the excise and customs duties?
It is true
that the lowering of the excise and customs duties resulted in less revenue for
the government but that can always be made up from different sources. The
direct taxes which are non-inflationary could be tapped and as suggested above,
tax expenditures could be reduced for this purpose. This is also suggested in
the Direct Tax code which is to be implemented from next year. Thus, there is
nothing sacrosanct about raising the indirect taxes to get additional revenue
that was earlier sacrificed by the government.
Some argue
that GST requires a uniform rate of tax so that tax rates have to be brought in
line with each other. However, in this budget the various tax rate changes
suggested do not seem to have a pattern which would harmonize the rates.
Further, why should they be harmonized to a higher rate and not a lower rate?
Again, the loss in revenue, if the tax rates are lowered, can be more than made
up through higher direct tax collections, say, by tackling the very large black
economy. Hence there is no necessity that the FM has to move towards higher indirect
tax rates.
Regarding
the losses being suffered by the petro companies, these are not just due to the
final price of the petro goods. The government treats these goods as a tax cow
and levies high excise and customs duties so that higher prices are required to
make a profit. If these duties are lowered, at lower prices also the petro
companies can make a profit. In general it is desirable to keep petro goods prices
high so that their consumption can be moderated and not only this precious good
but the environment can be saved. However, in an inflationary period, these
prices should not be raised since their inflationary potential is high.
An
alternative would have been to raise taxes on all automobiles so that their
prices could be higher and consumption moderated. Simultaneously, the prices of
public transport could be subsidized to shift traffic to this mode. This way
both travel of people and transport of goods could be cheap without an
inflationary impact and the budget could have collected more revenue. But the
elite and the automobile lobby oppose these steps. Thus, vested interests come
in the way of a more rational policy. This also explains the macro vision of
the budget.
Other Aspects of the
Budget
Prior to
the presentation of the budget the government had announced the move to curtail
the fertilizer subsidies by moving to a Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) system.
The real intent of the change is to cut the rising subsidy bill rather than any
rationalization of fertilizer use. A play with words is being used to make this
change sound reasonable and acceptable. However, in a difficult year for agriculture
the time is not right to shift to a new system. In India, given poor governance
and how businesses take advantage of deregulation to make a fast buck, the
possibility is that fertilizer prices would rise and their consumption could
decline leading to lower agricultural production. The opposite of what needs to
be done.
This year’s
Economic Survey suggests that food subsidy be managed through a voucher based
system. Without a proper distribution system for vouchers, is this feasible?
The potential for corruption could go up so that the scheme may work to the
detriment of the poor. Have we forgotten how easily Telgi printed fake stamp
papers and in educational institutions how easily fake income and caste
certificates and degrees are presented to take advantage of concessions. The
genuine people, the poor and the illiterate are then left out and the corrupt
make a killing.
The
problems in the country are basic and sophisticated solutions come a cropper.
Putting a lot of money into new fangled high sounding schemes in the end has
only complicated matters as has been seen in the case of issue of election
cards. In spite of this exercise going on for the last 15 years, it is still
facing difficulties. Usually the procedures in new schemes are so complex that
even the literate are left floundering. Take the introduction of the simple tax
forms; most people involved were literate but they found the procedures put in
place difficult to follow.
The
government is placing great faith in computer and IT based solutions like, UID,
computerization of income tax returns, etc. One only need remember that if the
spirit is not willing then machines cannot do much and their operation can be
circumvented. A law is as much in letter as in spirit. The experience with PAN
cards suggests that the crooked got multiple cards and the income department
stopped issuing them. Similarly, in case of demat accounts people have been
found to have up to 10,000 accounts. Banks in spite of the KYC requirements
help the rich clients in various illegalities. In the ongoing Koda case, a bank
branch enabled Rs.600 crores of rupees to be moved.
If those at
the top are corrupt, how can it be stopped at the lower levels? In the US and
Europe, there is far more computerization than in India, but tax evasion is
taking place through various devices, like, use of tax havens, etc. It has been
found that in spite of various regulations and computer controls, banks have
been helping their rich clients to spirit money to tax havens.
Central Plan
outlays are short by Rs.22,000 crores. Thus, the much trumpeted increase by 18
% has finally turned out to be an increase by about 12%, not too far ahead of
inflation. This reduced the impact of the stimulus last year. Such shortfalls
are an annual occurrence; expenditures are announced and then not spent to
control the deficit. What reliability can be placed on the roughly 25% increase
(on revised estimates) announced this year.
The chances
of the budgetary calculus going wrong are much more because the revenue account
estimates of expenditures are under estimated. Last year they increased by 15% over
the previous year’s expenditures and Rs.22,000 crores more than estimated in
the budget. This year they are slated to go up by only Rs.1,500 crores or about
0.02 % in spite of the interest burden rising by Rs.29,000 crores. In other
words, all other items are likely to fall by Rs.27,500 crores. Partly, this can
be attributed to the fact that in the previous two years the Sixth Pay
Commission award related arrears were paid out to government servants and these
were one shot payments.
The arrear
increase was already captured by the budget for 2008-09 so why the increase of
15% in 2009-10? This was not just in the case of interest payments but in all
the categories like, police, Defence services, social services, etc. This year
none of them are to rise. Defence allocation is static but police are slated to
fall by Rs.2,000 crores when major expansion is going on due to internal
security problems and social services are allotted Rs.6,000 crores less even
though major increases in expenditures are going on in education and health.
There is no inflation indexing. Finally, subsidies are slated to fall by
Rs.15,000 crores and this may turn out to be in error given the high inflation
that confronts us today. This has the potential of upsetting the deficit
figures as happened in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Increase of
Rs.5,000 crores for school education is welcome but is wholly inadequate if the
nation is to seriously move towards the implementation of the Right to
Education. Best school education for all children all over the country is a
crying need so that all children have equal opportunity. Children of the poor
drop out or do not go to the schools or even if they do go, the chances are
that they get such poor education so that they have little chance of competing
with the children of the well-off sections who get good education right
through. The budget manifests a lack of will for moving in the right direction
but then this is true not just of this budget but of all the previous budgets.
There is a lack of political will in the nation.
Increase in
NREGS is by Rs.1,000 crores when the poor are adversely affected by the food
inflation and need higher incomes. There is demand to raise the wages paid to
workers. Further, as is universally acknowledged, giving 100 days employment to
one family member of a family is wholly inadequate so that the amounts need to
be raised further. In contrast, the amount is not even inflation indexed so
that next year the expenditures are likely to be higher.
All
indications are that the deficit figures are likely to turn out to be higher
than anticipated. It is fortuitous for the government that the deficit figures for
2009-10 are lower as a per cent of the GDP because of a rise in the GDP figure for
the economy due to a revision of the base year. This statistical device would
not be available in the next year and the deficit would turn out to be higher
than anticipated.
Conclusion
Many of the
assumptions in the budget exercise for 2010-11 seem to be problematic. It is
taking a high risk in assuming a continued high growth in spite of the global
uncertainties and in prematurely reducing the stimulus by raising indirect
taxes across the board which would kick off inflation rather than moderate it.
Even if the rate of inflation declines, food prices are already at a high level
and unlikely to fall to last year’s levels so that the family budget is likely
to remain under stress.
Due to the
incorrect assumptions, the revenue deficit is likely to turn out to be higher
and this will lead to larger borrowing and interest payments which would cause
the fiscal deficit also to turn out to be higher and this could be a vicious
trap. The budgetary arithmetic needed to be more transparent.
It is the
retreat of the state that underlies the budget formulations and this is what
has led to the complications in the budget process, like, the premature
withdrawal of the stimulus. It is a pity that in this time of difficulties faced
by the citizens the government is thinking of a retreat by cutting subsidies,
disinvestment and so on.
The current
FM is the most astute politician in this government and also the most
experienced one (with no exceptions) and yet he has committed mistakes and is
now facing a rising political opposition, including from the allies. It is a
surprise that the Left and the Right have come together to oppose the budgetary
provisions. The BSP, SP and RJD are seen on the same platform against the UPA.
Why did he not anticipate this? Has he become so much a prisoner of the philosophy
of retreat of the state (and its corollary, the promotion of the private
sector) that he could not see the obvious and presented a flawed vision?