Budget 2012: Govt may not push through with reforms, says Anil Singhvi, Ican Investment

[Govt may not push reforms in budget: Anil Singhvi] Govt may not push reforms in budget: Anil Singhvi EDITORS PICK Rupee strengthened by 4.4 pc against US dollar in February: Namo Narain Meena Sensex ends 230 pts up; metals, oil & gas gain Govt targets $6 bn from asset sales in 2012/13 Rising oil prices to put pressure on economy Sensex on firm foot; Sterlite Industries, Maruti Suzuki gain Stock market RELATED ARTICLES New mutual fund advertising norms to help investors Lehman Brothers exits bankruptcy, to repay creditors LVMH investment arm L Capital's presence boosts Indian branded apparel market Rejig your portfolio to gain from a rate cut Budget 2012: Plan property investment early for better returns In an interview with ET Now, Anil Singhvi, chairman, Ican Investment Advisors, gives his views on the upcoming budget and the markets. Excerpts: ET Now: After the outcome of UP elections, do you think we should not expect anything from the Union Budget even though majority of the market men are betting on a proactive and a pro-market budget? Anil Singhvi: It has been tough for him and UP elections definitely have not helped his cause. So, it is going to be even more difficult because today the Congress is struggling to find the winning card to win elections. And I do not think they have now got any winning card, including Rahul where they thought would be a card for them to really win or do better. There was no possibility of winning a UP election, but do much better. But even that card has really not worked. So, obviously Mr. Pranab Mukherjee's life is quite difficult going forward on the 16th of March. It is not going to be an easy game for him. Budget at ET: Budget 2012 | Union Budget | Railway Budget 2012 | Budget News | Economic Survey 2012 ET Now: So, what exactly are the markets expecting from the budget? Is it going to be a reformist one or a populist one? Anil Singhvi: Actually we started the year with very low expectations. If you remember in December 2011 when the whole Parliament was under seize because of the Lokpal Bill, the expectations have come down to a very very low level. But, January and February because the stock market has run up so well, obviously the expectations have again built and they were all hoping that let the UP elections be over and Samajwadi Party and Congress will sleep together and that will have much better impact on the budget. But mildly it is very clear. I do not think the Congress has the conviction of coming out with reforms. So I am not saying that because of the coalition compulsions or any other election results, if the Congress itself does not want to get into all the reforms which they talked about or what they did in some part of last 20 years. So moving forward, I do not think reform is going to be ever-engaging situation where markets are pinning lots of hopes. And second thing which I want to point out here is this is going to be the 8th budget of Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. So you have a very seasoned finance minister. He was finance minister even as late back in 1982-1983. So 30 years he has been in and out of this ministry. So, he knows his job well, but political compulsions will really tie him down and I am not expecting any big major move coming out of the budget. So it is likely to be a very disappointing from market's perspective.