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'No tax hikes in my next budget,' says Sinha

Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has hinted that there may not be any new tax hikes if the Bharatiya Janata Party led government returns to power after the September-October national election.

Participating in a television show, Sinha said that if he is made finance minister again in a BJP-led government, he would not raise taxes.

One of the panellists, Ashok Desai, challenged that Sinha would raise taxes in his next budget. Desai is a former consultant to the finance ministry. In response, Sinha riposted, "I will bet against you on that. If I am around, I'll take a bet with you on that."

During the last fortnight, several opinion polls indicated a comfortable win for the ruling BJP-led coalition in the national election.

Opinions polls also indicated the public's opposition to new taxes. Political observers said this led to the government dropping its plan to impose a tax to neutralise the strain caused by the cost of the ongoing Kargil military operation against Pakistani insurgents in Kashmir.

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