Kerala Budget 2024 live updates | Finance Minister expected to focus on economic growth and revenue inflow

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:KERALA: 03/02/2024::Finance Minister KN Balagopal adressing the media ,in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday…………..Photo: S Mahinsha/The Hindu THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:KERALA: 03/02/2024::Finance Minister KN Balagopal addressing the media  ,in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday…………..Photo: S Mahinsha/The Hindu
| Photo Credit:
MAHINSHA

Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal is set to present the Kerala Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal in the Kerala Assembly at 9 a.m. on February 5 morning.

Mr. Balagopal is expected to balance expectations in his Kerala Budget for 2024-25 with measures aimed at driving economic growth and revenue inflow in the face of fiscal constraints while preserving the pace and breadth of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s social welfare commitments.

The Economic Review report that was presented in the Kerala Assembly on February 2 said the State’s economy recorded “steady growth” in 2022-23 with the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) clocking 6.6% growth at constant prices. 

Also read | Kerala’s ruling front and Opposition slam Centre’s Interim Budget as political exercise in futility

In 2022-23, Kerala’s economy posted positive growth for the second consecutive year after the pandemic. The Economic Review noted that this has been achieved in the face of “financial constraints and adversities.”

On February 1, Mr. Balagopal said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s 2024-25 Interim Budget had nothing in it to boost the national economy. For Kerala, in particular, the Budget was a “big disappointment,” he said.