By- Naiteek Bhatt
Nirmala Sitharaman matches Morarji Desai's six-budget record with her sixth. Desai presented budgets from 1959 to 1964, including an interim budget.
The Finance Minister also holds the record for the longest Budget speech - 2 hours and 42 minutes - which she delivered in 2020.
Ms Sitharaman will present an Interim Budget as the Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May. The full Budget will be presented by the newly elected government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi anticipates a third consecutive victory, affirming that the BJP-led government will present the full budget after the Lok Sabha polls.
Experts said Ms Sitharaman and the BJP will have to walk a fine line between pleasing various sections of people in an election year and keeping the fiscal deficit in check.
Being an interim budget, major policy changes or big announcements may not be made, but expectations are still high.
Anticipated measures for MSMEs include streamlined regulations, reduced compliance burdens, and enhanced loan accessibility.
Addressing a joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, President Droupadi Murmu said that the government is moving ahead with the guarantee of fulfilling the dreams of 140 crore countrymen.
Opposition members, however, claimed the government had written an "election speech" for the President and said that issues such as income inequality, unemployment and price rise had not been addressed.