Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal goes through the last minute preparations ahead of the presentation of the State annual budget in the state Assembly, in Thiruvananthapuram on Feb. 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal will present the Kerala Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal and the Vote on Account at 9 a.m. today in the State Legislative Assembly.
Being presented amid a financial crunch and in the runup to the Lok Sabha polls, the budget generates considerable interest in terms of new announcements, proposals to mobilise much-needed additional resources and steps to maintain momentum on the development and welfare initiatives of the Left Democratic Front government.
Kerala Budget 2024 live updates
Talking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Balagopal had hinted at proposals for spurring revenue growth, but added that care would be taken not to cause hardships to the people.
The budget will also be keenly watched for measures aimed at exploring hitherto untapped revenue sources for the government.
On the fiscal front, the LDF government has been blaming the BJP-led Union government of unfairly depriving it of ₹ 57,400 crore annually. These issues are likely to persist in 2024-25 as well.
The government’s plans for the social security pensions, and the liquor and fuel cesses announced in the last budget to feed a social security seed fund are of interest this time. The Opposition UDF has been demanding the LDF government to scrap the cesses alleging that they have unable to prevent the delay in social security pension payments.
After the budget presentation today, the State Assembly will reconvene on February 12 to continue the budget session.