No effective initiative in Budget to overcome country's fin crisis: LJD leader Shreyams Kumar

New Delhi, Feb 1 () Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) leader M V Shreyams Kumar on Monday said the Union Budget does not have any effective initiatives to address the financial crisis in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic and global economic slowdown.

In a statement, he also said the Budget "will cause an all-out increase in consumer price, essential commodities due to agricultural infrastructure and development cess".

There are no effective proposals to deal with the financial crisis or to create employment opportunities, Kumar, also a Rajya Sabha member, said.

Kumar also said that in the name of strategic disinvestment, the government is planning to generate Rs 1.75 lakh crore by disinvesting public sector companies, banks and insurance companies. Major ports are also on sale in the garb of public-private partnership, he added.

He is LJD's Kerala State President.

Presenting her third straight Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed a sharp increase in expenditure on infrastructure, doubling of healthcare spending and raising of the cap on foreign investment in insurance.

It also imposed an Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on certain items to finance agricultural infrastructure and other development expenditure. But its impact on prices has been offset by an equivalent or more reduction in the import duty. RAM BAL