What is the economic mood of the nation?

Media News

Mumbai, February 25, 2011

CNBC-TV18 along with Synovate was looking to understand the mood of the economy by a nation wide poll in a special show 'Voice of the Economy' hosted by Shereen Bhan.

The poll, which covered 23 distinct areas of traditional budgetary importance and was put to CEOs of companies with a turnover exceeding Rs 50 crores, stock brokers, commodity traders, retail investors, corporate executives, small business owners and entrepreneurs across 7 centres in India.

Budget 2011 promises to be one of sweeping changes, most of them aimed at reining in runaway prices, reducing fiscal deficit, and boosting the economy through a range of means - from higher social spending to a review of the ban on multi-brand retail to bolstering infrastructure investment. That's the sense one gets from a pre-budget opinion poll.

A rollback of fiscal stimulus measures may be inevitable, with 60 percent of the respondents saying the Finance Minister would take that crucial step. At the same time, 67 percent of the respondents believe the battle against food inflation will grab his attention. Measures to reduce fiscal deficit are also widely expected, as are incentives to boost infrastructure financing and changes to tax rates to set the stage for the implementation of GST and DTC, and a higher disinvestment target.

However, the respondents were a little more wary of committing the Finance Minister to certain steps. Case in point: would the FM allow for higher compensation for states to break GST bottlenecks, or whether he would move to lift the ban on multi-brand retail. In both cases, the ayes overwhelmed the nays by a poor margin.

For more details catch this CNBC-TV18 special on-air this weekend.

For further information, please contact:

Hanmer MSL

Alisha Fernandes

Mobile: +919819090799

Email: alisha@hanmermsl.com