New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS): The IANS-CVoter Post Budget survey conducted across the country in the aftermath of the Union Budget speech by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman found that a majority of Indians rated the Budget well when it comes to long-term prospects despite the hardships they are facing at the moment.

Since the progress of any economy depends a lot on overall sentiments, this augurs well both for the Indian economy and the countrymen.

However, when it comes to the immediate future, the answers are still negative.

When asked if they are overall satisfied with this Budget, 42.6 per cent said no while 39.5 per cent said yes.

The most dissatisfied was the middle-income group with more than 46 per cent expressing their disapproval.

The absence of any income tax relief seems to have affected their sentiments negatively. While 21.5 per cent of the respondents felt the latest Budget was better than expected, a slightly higher 24.3 per cent said it was worse than expected. Once again, the middle-income groups were the unhappiest.

The long-term picture is better. When asked if this Budget will strengthen the economy, 25.7 per cent respondents said not at all. In contrast, 31.7 per cent said it will to a large extent while 35.3 per cent said it will to some extent. Overall, 66.8 per cent of the respondents seem to agree with the proposition that the Budget will strengthen the economy.

These numbers are largely because the Budget has increased capital investment outlays by 35 per cent, committed to larger investments in infrastructure and made provisions to further accelerate the digitisation of the Indian economy. If it can manage to control inflation in the coming year, opinions of Indians would definitely start moving even more in the favourable direction.