Key Points
When RK Shanmukham Chetty presented independent Indias first budget, the fledgling nation was grappling with multiple economic challenges, including shortage of foodgrains, elevated imports and spiralling prices of essential commodities...
As Chetty presented an interim budget for seven and a half months, his main apprehension was about the high import of foodgrains..
It is the finance minister seeking Parliament's approval for a grant in advance to meet the central governments essential expenditure till a new government presents a full budgetAn interim budget may contain estimates of both receipts and expenditure, but it avoids major changes on the tax frontParliament passes a vote-on-account, which deals only with the expenditure side of the budget..
Deficit in foodgrains in 1952 due to "vagaries of the monsoon", as mentioned in the budget speechBalance of payment was under pressureIn the mid-1950s the government negotiated with the World Bank to secure a loan for its foreign exchange needsA major decline in agriculture production in 1955-56Closure of Suez Canal due to Israel Arab conflict in 1956-57..
Desai in his budget speech called it an "all-time record"Five years later, the interim budget of 1967 was prepared against the backdrop of very low farm produce in 1965-66Desai in his budget speech talked about how "the slackness in industrial growth was a widespread phenomenon"Exports dropped by 9% in April-December 1966 from a year agoIndia accepted "food-gifts" from countries such as Canada, Australia and Soviet Russia...
