Barely a week after the vote-on-account, the government has announced measures that are being broadly referred to as the third stimulus package.

During the Budget presentation, acting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had not announced any financial sops citing "constitutional propriety" of a poll-bound government. But in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Mukherjee spoke of "flexibility" within the "constitutional constraints" and global recession to provide stimulus to the economy.

A few more sops for the industry and the common man are expected to be announced during this week, before the election code of conduct comes into effect.
On Tuesday, the FM was replying specifically to the Opposition's charge that the UPA government's interim Budget was a case of "lost opportunities."

The other issues raised by members of the Opposition included failure on the economic front, employment generation, inflation, fiscal deficit and plight of farmers.
Besides announcing relief in central excise duties and service tax, the government has taken a call on the ceiling for fiscal deficit. For 2009-10, the ceiling for fiscal deficit will remain at 3.5% of the gross state domestic product (GSDP).

Mukherjee said that as a part of the first stimulus package, thefiscal deficit ceiling was increased by 0.5% to 3.5% of the GSDPfor 2008-09.
Nivedita Mookerji DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication