Date:02/03/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/03/02/stories/2005030205351100.htm

National

A hotch-potch of allocations: Swamy

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, MARCH. 1. The Janata Party president, Subramanian Swamy, today described the Union budget as a ``directionless hotch-potch of financial allocations'' that was ``retrograde and anti-reform.''

In a statement, he said there was no attempt to address the main problems of jobless growth and unsustainable agriculture. While corporation tax had been reduced, the depreciation allowance had been tightened, nullifying the tax relief.

The budget had not addressed the key problem of the ``as-yet-undisclosed fiscal crisis looming large over the country.'' It faced a debt trap, an allocation straitjacket and a fiscal deficit that was untenable, he said.

The Finance Minister had ``glibly evaded responsibility'' for essential financial reforms to meet the fiscal crisis by promising to implement the reforms next year, Dr. Swamy added.