Embattled Indian govt defends record in pre-poll budget

 NEW DELHI: India's embattled government said Monday it had lifted tens of millions out of poverty as it trumpeted its record in the last budget before elections it is widely tipped to lose.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram talked up his government's achievements over the past decade and announced a package of cuts in indirect taxes in the budget for the next financial year starting April 1.
Chidambaram said the fiscal deficit would be contained at 4.6 per cent of gross domestic product in the current financial year, beating his own target of 4.8 per cent, before shrinking to 4.1 per cent in the next.
Asia's third-largest economy is facing the worst slowdown in a decade, with growth at 4.5 percent last year, along with shrinking manufacturing, poor jobs growth and stubbornly high inflation.
The budget envisages total spending of 17.6 trillion rupees ($284 billion) in the next fiscal year, higher than the 15.9 trillion in the current year.
Narendra Modi, the top leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, called the budget a "final act of misery" by Congress after "a decade of decay and policy paralysis", according to a news agency.