Bland Budget is UPA's recipe to score in polls | Highlights

New Delhi: The Government gave spending estimates on Tuesday for the first four months of 2009/10, with sops for rural voters but few fresh measures to boost a faltering economy ahead of elections due in May.The reason for a bland budget

The Government appeared cautious about unveiling big-ticket projects ahead of elections because of a ballooning fiscal deficit. "They merely listed what they have done and told people 'look if you vote us back, we will do it again'," said political columnist and author Kuldip Nayar.

"They may have missed a chance to spell out what they will do and therefore opened themselves up to opposition criticism. "But by saying nothing, they will not be seen partial to any sector or will not be open to intense scrutiny of economists who would have examined every policy/incentive announcement."Will the budget create jobs?

Mukherjee announced an extension of interest subsidies to debt-hit farmers and higher spending for rural jobs and health. But analysts say it is too early to say if that will give the Government a boost ahead of elections.

About half a million jobs are thought to have been lost in the last quarter of 2008 alone, while an export lobby expects the figure to spiral to 10 million in the year to March-end.

After four years of steering a booming economy without much reform, the Congress party-led government has been shaken by slowing growth and job losses amid the global economic downturn.Real budget after elections

A new government will have to walk a fine line between increasing spending and implementing tax cuts to boost faltering economic growth. This could come at the expense of an already ballooning fiscal deficit, which will widen to 6 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008/2009, its highest in nearly seven years, from a planned 2.5 per cent.

The Congress-led government came to power five years ago on a pro-poor ticket, announcing major handouts for the farm and rural sectors, moves that helped fuel a widening of the fiscal deficit.

"The buck has been passed on to the next government to provide both higher spending and further tax cuts after the elections," Nomura economist Sonal Varma said. "Until then, with revenues slipping, government borrowing will remain high and this is a concern for the bond market."