The Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram has said in his Budget speech that his government has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerating fiscal consolidation and reform by notifying the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act 2003 and the rules with effect from July 5, 2004. The salient features of the medium-term fiscal policy statement, the fiscal policy strategy statement and the macroeconomic framework statement presented along with the Budget are :
· Revenue deficit will be eliminated by 2008-09. This step will open up fiscal space up to 3 per cent of GDP for enhanced public investment without undermining fiscal prudence.
· Growth will be sustained by increasing production and value addition in agriculture, a marked improvement in industrial production and continued buoyancy in the performance of other service sector.
· Government will follow a five year roadmap to achieve the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) objective of bringing about rapid growth with stability and equity.