'It is a budget for the common man'

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh described the Budget 2003-04 proposals as "people centric" with the focus on poverty alleviation and development of the core sectors like agriculture and industry. The stress will be on fiscal system management and focus will also be on health and education, Singh added.

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday described the Budget 2003-04 proposals as "people centric" with the focus on poverty alleviation and development of the core sectors like agriculture and industry.

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"We should stop talking India down and there should be no obstacles as the country was on the move", Singh told reporters after presenting the Budget

On whether he had taken the correct step of reducing interest rate on PPF and other small savings by one per cent, Singh said "otherwise why would I take it".

He would not hazard a guess on the GDP growth rate for the next financial year, adding it will be worked out.

The stress will be on fiscal system management, he said. The Budget is aimed at benefiting the common man and is "citizen centric", he maintained.

The Finance Minister said the Antyodaya Anna Yojna and development of agriculture and industry would be given top priority.

The focus will also be on health and education, he said.