New Delhi, Feb. 1 -- While presenting the Union Budget 2023-24 in Parliament here on Wednesday, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to continue the financial sector reforms and innovative use of technology which have led to financial inclusion at scale, better and faster service delivery, ease of access to credit and participation in financial markets.

Sitharaman announced that the revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs, proposed in the previous Budget, will take effect from Apr 1 through infusion of Rs. 9000 crore in the corpus.

"This will enable additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of Rs. 2 lakh crore. Further, the cost of credit will be reduced by about 1%," she said.

To settle co...