23 January 2018
Preview
Budget 2018-19
Union Budget Expectations: What’s in whose kitty?
Question is rife whether the budget will be populist
India’s Union Budget 2018-19 will be presented on 1 February 2018. Expectations and
excitement run high as it will be the first post-GST and last full-year budget before the
General Elections in 2019.
We note that the 2018-19 Budget will be presented against the backdrop of
uncertainty over tax collections post implementation of the Goods & Services Tax
(GST). We expect the government to revise its deficit target to 3.4% of GDP for FY18
(higher than the budgeted estimate of 3.2%) and to 3.2% of GDP for FY19 (higher than
the target of 3% set last year). It means that the plan to meet the 3% deficit target will
be postponed by one year (to 2019-20) for the third time.
As the current government will present its last full-year budget before the 2019
General Elections, many in the market expect a heavier dose of populism. However,
we believe that the government has limited financial resources to propose any
targeted scheme for the poor. We also do not expect much relief on the tax front,
except some reduction in the corporate tax rate for medium-sized companies.
From an equity market perspective, it is important to see how the Budget is able to
make a difference to the rural sector, how the government is able to carry the burden
of expectations, and whether the Budget strikes a right balance between good
economics and good politics, especially with the General Elections around the corner
next year. Also, as GST-related dust is still settling down, the markets will be keenly
watching fiscal deficit projections and whether the long-term fiscal consolidation path
is adhered to. We do expect the government to focus on rural and capex spending to
boost sentiment and revive growth further. However, given the hard-achieved gains
on fiscal consolidation, flexibility to go overboard on spending is limited, in our view.
Consumption pick-up (especially rural and discretionary), cyclical recovery in corporate
facing banks and gradual pick-up in private capex are our key themes to play in CY18.
TITAN, EMAMI, UNSP, ICICI BANK, RBL, HDFC, SHTF, PETRONET, HPCL, TATA MOTORS,
M&M, L&T, JSP, BHARTI are among our top ideas.
st
3% fiscal deficit target
postponed to 2019-20, peg
FY19 deficit at 3.2% of GDP
Gross borrowings to touch
INR7t, implying net
borrowings to rise to
INR4.9t (or 2.6% of GDP) in
FY19
In its
previous budget,
the center had budgeted 12-year slowest growth of 6.6% in
total spending, making it clear that fiscal policy is reaching its limits (refer
our report
for detailed analysis).
Not surprisingly then, economic activity weakened
considerably in FY18, further pressurizing the government. Following the fiscal
consolidation path amid growing demand to support economic recovery is the
biggest challenge for the government. An anemic rural economy and a weak
investment cycle add to the concerns. It would, thus, be interesting to see how the
Center handles the fires that are already raging.
Exhibit 1: Motilal Oswal’s expectations on key fiscal indicators from Union Budget 2018-19
Economic indicators
Unit
INR b
Gross fiscal deficit
% of GDP
INR b
Gross market borrowings
% of GDP
INR b
Net market borrowings
% of GDP
INR b
Nominal GDP
% YoY
BE = Budget estimates, F = Our Forecasts
FY16
5,328
3.9
6,233
4.6
4,416
3.2
136,820
9.9
FY17
5,261
3.5
6,225
4.1
4,067
2.7
151,837
11.0
FY18BE
FY18F
FY19F
5,465
5,601
5,861
3.2
3.4
3.2
5,820
6,250
7,000
3.5
3.7
3.8
3,502
3,932
4,920
2.1
2.4
2.6
168,475
167,067
186,062
11.8
10.0
11.4
Source: Union Budget documents, MoSL
Research Team
(Gautam.Duggad@MotilalOswal.com); +91 22 3982 5404
Nikhil Gupta – Research analyst
(Nikhil.Gupta@MotilalOswal.com); +91 22 3982 5405
8 August 2016
Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.
1
Motilal Oswal research is available on www.motilaloswal.com/Institutional-Equities, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Capital.