With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to present her sixth straight budget on February 1, all eyes are on the urgent measures being taken ahead of the full budget following the Lok Sabha elections.
Since the interim budget looks at a horizon of the first four months of the new fiscal, the Centre will focus on addressing immediate economic concerns. However, fresh tax proposals and new schemes might not be on the cards.
One of the main issues to be addressed is the slack consumption demand and experts say that putting more money in people's hands is one way to resolve the problem. For this, the government may look at possibilities of making changes in the new tax regime to make it attractive for taxpayers who are yet to migrate from the old one.
"Tax slab tweaking is always a case for consideration in Budget... In the new tax regime there may be a pressure on the Government to include deductions for interest on home loans," Deloitte India Partner Sanjay Kumar told PTI.
Bolstering the rural economy is another step that is likely to be taken by the government. For this, the finance ministry might increase funds under the MNREGA rural employment guarantee scheme as well as offer additional sops to women and marginalised communities.