New Delhi: India Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman is set to hold pre-budget consultations with her state counterparts on Friday, November 25.

The prebudget meeting is part of the customary one that the minister undertakes with stakeholders before the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1.

The pre-budget meeting with state finance ministers will be held in New Delhi on November 25, an official said. Sitharaman on Monday began consultation to seek suggestions for the Budget 2023-24 with industry captains and experts from infrastructure and climate change. On November 22, the minister will meet the agriculture and agro-processing industry, representatives from the financial sector and capital market.

She will also be meeting the representatives of the services sector and trade bodies, besides experts from the social sector, including health, education, water and sanitation, on November 24, in virtual mode.

The budget for the next year will have to address critical issues of high inflation, boosting demand, job creation and putting the economy on a sustained 8 per cent-plus growth path.  It will be the fifth budget of Sitharaman and the last full budget before the general elections slated for April-May 2024.

An official announced that the pre-budget meeting with state finance ministers would take place in New Delhi on November 25. Sitharaman started consulting with business leaders and specialists in infrastructure and climate change on Monday to get proposals for the Budget 2023–24. The minister will meet with members from the capital market, the banking industry, and the agriculture and agro-processing sector on November 22.

On November 24, she will hold virtual meetings with experts from the social sector, including health, education, water, and sanitation. She will also meet with leaders of the services industry and trade organisations.

The following year's budget will need to handle key challenges like high inflation, increasing demand, job creation, and getting the economy back on a sustained growth path of 8% or more. It will be Sitharaman's fifth budget and the final comprehensive budget before the scheduled general elections in April–May 2024.

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