Budget 2024: Nirmala Sitharaman meets President Droupadi Murmu ahead of budget speech

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday called on President Droupadi Murmu before presenting the pre-election Budget for 2024-25. As per established tradition, the finance minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before heading to Parliament.

"Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman along with Ministers of State Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad and Shri Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget," Rashtrapati Bhawan said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

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President Murmu extended her best wishes to the finance minister. The Union Cabinet met thereafter to clear the Budget. Before the actual presentation in Parliament, the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will approve the Budget for fiscal year 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025).

Expectations are running high as Sitharaman presents her sixth budget in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. She has her task cut out to maintain the world's fastest-growing economy tag for India while staying fiscally prudent and meeting general public expectations of lowering taxes in an election year. Sitharaman continued with the tradition she set in 2019, carrying the budget speech in a 'bahi-khata', which she used after ditching the briefcase. She kept a digital tablet in a red 'bahi khata' style pouch. The economy is projected to expand by 7.3 per cent in the current fiscal year, as per official estimate.