‘`1L cr tax relief will not impact inflation’

‘The tax relief given to the middle class in the Budget will spur consumption’

Agencies NEW delhi

New Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday lauded the Union Budget for FY26 as "excellent", which will help in economic growth as well as in the central bank's core objective of curtailing inflation. Malhotra, a career bureaucrat who took over as the Governor of RBI in December, also said that the Rs 1 lakh crore of tax relief given to the middle class to spur consumption will not have any major impact on inflation.

"Overall, it is an excellent budget both from a growth perspective as well as from an inflation perspective," Malhotra told reporters hours after announcing a 0.25 per cent repo rate cut, the first such move by the RBI in five years. He said the government has curtailed the fiscal deficit at 4.4 per cent, which is better than the 4.5 per cent under the earlier announced fiscal glide path. Malhotra said the proposals on vegetables, fruits and pulses through dedicated programmes will help curb inflation in the medium to long term.