Much Ado about Nothing Pulapre Balakrishnan Two objectives must guide the conduct of fiscal affairs at the present juncture. First, there is a need for macroeconomic stabilisation. Second, there is need for fiscal adjustment, meaning transition to a more imaginative use of the fiscal apparatus to promote development. It is on its ability to achieve these aims, along with the distribution across income groups of the costs of adjustment, that the budget for 1992-93 ought to be judged.