Paying for past sins?

Two data points were released on Budget day. At noon the finance minister indicated - to the relief of markets - that the 2012-13 fiscal deficit was contained to 5.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), an impressive consolidation vis-à-vis last year. At 5 p m that evening, GDP growth printed at a 15-quarter low of 4.5 per cent. The markets sighed in anguish. Sub-five per cent growth is unacceptably low, given the country's development and demography.

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