FM Sitharaman meets Prez Murmu ahead of Union budget presentation

NEW DELHI: Ahead of tabling of the Union budget 2023 in Parliament on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with ministers of state Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Karad and Finance Secretary T V Somanathan called on President Droupadi Murmu.

As per established tradition, the Finance Minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before heading to Parliament to present the Union Budget. This is the fifth budget presentation by Sitharaman.

"Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, MoS Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, MoS Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan," the President of India tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a cabinet meeting at 10 am before the Budget is tabled in Parliament. Speaking to ANI ahead of the Budget, MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that the people's expectations would be reflected in the Budget.

"UnionBudget2023 will meet the expectations of every section of society. Modi govt has always worked in the favour of the people of the country", Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told ANI.

MoS Finance Dr B Karad speaking to ANI this morning said that the "Country has made good recovery from COVID. If we look at Economic Survey, all sectors are making progress. Compared to other countries, our economy is good. When PM took oath in 2014, India was 10th (in terms of economy), today it is fifth."

On January 31 the first day of the budget session of Parliament, Sitharaman tabled the pre-budget Economic Survey for 2022-2023. Finance Minister laid on the table, a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Economic Survey, 2022-23 along with Highlights and a Statistical Appendix.

The budget session of Parliament that began with the President's address to a joint sitting of the houses will take place in 27 sittings till April 6 with a month-long recess to examine the budget papers.

The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, gave insights into the state of the economy and various indicators in the current financial year 2022-23 (April-March) and outlook for the next year.

Meanwhile, addressing reporters outside Parliament before the start of the budget session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Our Finance Minister will present one more Budget before the country tomorrow. In today's global circumstances, not only India but the entire world is looking at India's budget.

Amid the unstable global economic situation, India's Budget will attempt to meet the hopes and aspirations of the common citizens. I firmly believe that Nirmala Sitharaman will make all efforts to meet those aspirations."

This budget will be the last full-fledged Union Budget of PM Narendra Modi's government before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Like the previous two years, the Union Budget will be delivered in paperless form this year also.

The 259th Session (Budget) of the Rajya Sabha is likely to be concluded on April 6.

In order to enable the Standing Committees to consider the Demands for Grants of Ministries and Departments and prepare their Reports, both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha will adjourn on February 13 to meet again on March 13.