Articles by Ashok K Lahiri

Budget-making requires a careful balancing of contradictory considerations, and such balancing becomes a formidable challenge in a flagging economy hit by a pandemic. This article focuses on the fiscal stance of the budget in terms of debt and deficit in 2021–22 and 2022–23.

Four pillars of green politics--social justice, grass-roots democracy, non-violence, and respect for diversity--have become more or less established principles of Indian political parties. The integration of the environmental dimension of green politics, consisting of the twin pillars of ecological wisdom and sustainability, is in an evolutionary phase. It is likely that increasingly this integration will reflect the views of the growing Indian middle class.

This essay focuses on five pending reform items in the financial sector, namely, moving monetary policy to inflation targeting; modernising the delivery of financial services to the priority sectors and vulnerable and weaker sections; introducing capital account convertibility; moving to a streamlined financial regulatory architecture; and restructuring the banking industry.

This paper provides an overview of the magnitude of fiscal deficit and discusses reasons for its persistence. It describes how the deficit is complicating the task of fiscal reform and suggests remedial measures.