New Delhi, Feb. 1 -- The Union budget was presented on Saturday in the backdrop of sluggish real growth and stubborn albeit declining headline inflation with the latest print above 5%. Real growth was at 6% in the first half of the current year (2024-25), as against 8.2% in the same period last year. A satellite concern of long standing is jobs and livelihoods. But high frequency indicators suggest that the second half of the year might show higher real growth.

For the upcoming budget year, nominal gross domestic product (GDP) has been projected to grow at 10.1% over the half year-based First Advance Estimate (FAE) for the current year, yielding a budgeted GDP denominator of Rs.356.97 trillion for 2025-26. The Second Advance Estimate (SA...