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August 30, 1999

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

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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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