No populist budget this time, says Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday indicated that the upcoming Budget will not be a populist one and said it’s a myth that the common man expects “freebies and sops” from the government.

In a TV interview on Sunday, he also pledged that his government will stay on the course of the reforms agenda that has pulled out India from being among the “fragile five” economies of the world to being a 'bright spot'.

Mr Modi stoutly defended his economic policies, saying demonetisation was “a very big success story” and that he was open to changes in the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) to plug loopholes and make it a more efficient “one-nation-one- tax” system.