In Shorts
- P Chidambaram claims Budget 2026 ignores key economic problems flagged by experts.
- He criticises weak fiscal consolidation and low investment focus in the budget.
- Former FM also says budget speech had too many superficial schemes.
New Delhi. Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram launched a stinging attack on the Union Budget 2026-27, asserting that the document presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman fails to address India’s most pressing economic challenges and lacks strategic direction.
Speaking at a press event shortly after the budget presentation, Chidambaram said the budget did not adequately engage with the concerns outlined in the Economic Survey 2025-26 or the real-world economic stress facing Indians. According to him, the budget ignored structural weaknesses and did not offer a credible roadmap for addressing them.
Among the issues Chidambaram highlighted were slow fiscal consolidation, persistently high fiscal and revenue deficits, and the absence of meaningful responses to challenges such as exports under pressure, manufacturing stagnation and investment uncertainties. He said the government’s fiscal parameters showed little improvement, with the fiscal deficit falling only marginally and the revenue deficit remaining unchanged.
Chidambaram also criticised what he described as a wide gulf between official inflation figures and the everyday cost of living for ordinary households. He noted that micro, small and medium enterprises continue to struggle or shut down, youth unemployment remains high and urban infrastructure is deteriorating — yet none of these concerns were substantively tackled in the new budget.
On fiscal management, the former finance minister said the government’s performance in 2025-26 was weak even by basic accounting standards, pointing out significant shortfalls in revenue receipts and expenditure. He noted capital expenditure had declined as a share of GDP and that cuts affected key social sectors such as rural development, education and health.
Chidambaram also criticised the sheer number of new programmes, missions and committees announced, suggesting that many of these initiatives may not have lasting impact or clear outcomes. He questioned whether the focus on launching schemes had overridden the need for substantive economic reform.
The former finance minister’s comments reflect growing pushback from the opposition, which argues that the government needs a more coherent strategy to spur growth, create jobs and strengthen India’s economic fundamentals in the face of domestic and global pressures.
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