Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to hold the first meeting for the July 5 Budget on Tuesday, government sources told CNBC-TV18. As a precursor to the prime minister’s meeting, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is understood to have reviewed the Budget preparation across her ministry, including a working Sunday for senior officials.

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The government is unlikely to make major changes in the key numbers for the July 5 Budget, sources told CNBC-TV18. However, the final call will be taken by the prime minister and his team, with more Budget meetings scheduled ahead, sources said.

Tax targets set in the interim Budget have been widely assessed as unrealistic, and senior revenue department officials have told the finance minister that the February 1 targets cannot be met.

However, a call on changing these numbers is not expected, said the sources. Any reduction in the revenue targets will further constrain the government’s elbow room on expenditure and fiscal deficit.

The government is aiming to broadly remain on course on the fiscal numbers with a fiscal deficit between 3.4 percent and 3.5 percent for FY20.

Additional spend allocations in the new budget could entail a minor deviation of 0.1 percent in the deficit target but, in all likelihood, the government will wait until December after having watched the revenue and expenditure trends for the first nine months before taking a call on the matter.

First Published:Jun 17, 2019 8:52 PM IST