Growth is slowing but there is ‘no room for fiscal leniency’ if India is to meet fiscal deficit targets, economists say. Mumbai, India – Prema Salgaonkar wakes up hours before dawn and begins to cook food in her suburban Mumbai home to sell. Her son, Amar returns from work only when the sun is well above and she is done making her nearly 100 vegetable-stuffed parathas.
Salgaonkar lost her job at a nonprofit nearly a year ago and her son Amar, 35, lost his job selling mobile phones and data plans six months ago. With no retailers hiring, he eventually took up temporary work, travelling nights on transport trucks, helping drivers negotiate with police and other officials. Recommended Stories This week as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the budget on March 1, she will have to find a way to spur growth and employment for the millions of people like the Salgaonkars, who are struggling to find steady work, while keeping to fiscal deficit targets.
“We don’t sit at home,” Prema says, about how they ended in these temporary jobs. She quickly lists how prices for vegetables have shot up, leaving her with little money to meet expenses and save up for Amar’s wedding, which now seems like a distant dream given that he doesn’t have a steady job. India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth fell to 5.
4 percent for the quarter ending September 2024, the latest data available and the slowest in seven quarters. Growth is expected to slow to 6.4 percent for the fis.
