A simple budget for a simple time

A crisis can make life simple, just reducing it to the absolute necessities. Many, perhaps most of us, have experienced this since the Chinese virus hit us in March. Most of the activities and complexities of life melted away, postponed for some far away future. The formula became simple - just keep yourself safe while keeping work/business going as best as possible. Ms Sitharaman had an equally simple task for this budget. Spend a lot of money, and just borrow what is needed. In terms of the overall direction, this must have been the simplest budget in years. For the first time in living memory, there is hardly any need for a fiscal high-wire act. 2020-21's revised budget estimate is 9.5 per cent. That's a number that would have had most analysts splutter and foam at the mouth a year ago. And yet no one