Hong Kong is currently one of the fastest growing international financial centers in the world. Between 2008 and 2013, Hong Kong’s wealth management industry witnessed a growth rate of 146 per cent. There has also been estimation about Hong Kong’s offshore wealth sector growing by approximately 10 percent annually to 2020 – the fastest for any major center.

Domestic resource mobilization is crucial for a state to finance development, provide social security and redistribute wealth. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) regard domestic revenue as fundamental for countries to meet their developmental goals.

Financial secrecy deprives countries, especially developing ones, of key revenue resources by eroding their tax base. India must thus build a robust legal system to lift the veil of secrecy on both onshore and offshore financing.

Concerns are being expressed over important economic decisions being taken outside the process of budget formulation.

A long-term policy on teachers’ appointment and teacher’s training, backed by increased spending, is needed.

Without adequate central funding for the schemes for women’s safety in the Budget, implementation will suffer.

A push to the rural and digital economy but not much for the rest

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA), one of the flagship programme’s of the government, has heralded a change in the sphere of sanitation programmes in the country. Though India has made strides in improving sanitations standards, the dismal sanitation statistics for both rural and urban areas still leave much to be desired.

राजस्व बढ़ाने के साथ ही संसाधनों के प्रभंधन का प्रयोग

The Union Budget 2017-18 tabled in Parliament yesterday was one of many firsts. The Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley began his speech on taxation by acknowledging that the country’s tax-GDP ratio, as well as the direct-indirect tax ratio are lower than optimal.

Hardly anybody would quibble over the fact that rural India has been severely impacted with the sluggish agricultural activities and other means of livelihood in the post-demonetization phase. Some of the important measures being implemented for the rural economy, particularly for the agriculture sector, include, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Krishi Sinchai Yojana, Long-term corpus fund for Irrigation with NABARD etc.

The Plan and Non-Plan expenditure heads created distrotions in developmental funding which seek resolution.