The government's priorities should be healthcare and education even if "this comes at the cost of reducing fiscal infrastructure," said Jahangir Aziz, head of EM - Economic Research at JPMorgan, ahead of the Union Budget, which will be presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament at 11 AM.

“I would expect the government in today’s Budget to increase (focus on) the places, which have not been taken care of in a very long time, that are both healthcare and education," he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. "Those are the two things that need to be addressed and address now."

On tax collection, Jahangir said, “The government should improve tax administration, could simplify goods and services tax (GST) to make GST more easily trackable... the government can have its cake and eat it too by reducing its fiscal deficit as well as keeping its expenditure and not trying to go in for short-term tax increasing measures which are most likely not going to be effective.”

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First Published:Jul 5, 2019 9:41 AM IST