Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Credit: PTI Photo
In the past, the Union Budget has evoked diverse market reactions, ranging from highly positive to negative. As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present her sixth Union Budget, which is an interim one this time, there are diverse market expectations surrounding it. Let's examine how the markets responded to the previous few budgets.
Budget 2023
During the Budget day last year, the BSE Sensex experienced a significant increase of over 1,100 points, reaching a peak of 60,773.44. Similarly, the NSE Nifty 50 surpassed the 17,970-mark. However, shortly after Sitharaman concluded her speech, the indices began to decline rapidly, dropping by nearly 1 per cent.
Budget 2022
The finance minister presented the Budget on 1 February. The Nifty closed the Budget day session with a 1.4 per cent increase. However, the sentiment turned negative, resulting in the Nifty witnessing its fourth worst month between 2011 and 2022, with a decline of 4.5 per cent.
Budget 2021
After two consecutive disappointing Budgets, Nirmala Sitharaman presented her third Budget, which received a highly positive response from the market. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this was the first time the Union Budget was presented digitally using a tablet device. Nifty closed the day with a strong increase of 4.7 per cent.
Budget 2020
The second Budget presented by Sitharaman received a negative response from the market, with Nifty closing 2.5 per cent lower on the day.
Budget 2019
Presented by Sitharaman as the first full-time female finance minister, the Budget failed to impress the market. The interim Budget resulted in Nifty closing with a loss of 1.1 per cent. The sentiment continued to worsen, with Nifty experiencing an 8 per cent decline in the month following the Budget announcement, marking it as the worst month between 2011-2022.