The most revolutionary announcement in this year's budget is the decision of the Indian government to meet part of the fiscal deficit by borrowing abroad in foreign currencies. This path has been avoided by India assiduously in the past during stressed times like the 1991 balance of payments crisis or the Asian crisis of 1997 or the US Sanction imposed in 1999 or the Lehman crisis of 2008 or the run on the rupee during the taper tantrum of 2013. CNBC-TV18 spoke to C Rangarajan former governor of RBI and Bimal Jalan former governor of RBI to discuss whether it is wise to break this self-imposed constraint.
