All eyes are on the Interim Budget that is scheduled to be presented on February 1. Speculation is rife that the interim Budget may go beyond the conventional ‘vote on account’ sought by a government in an election year. The Mint Budget Roundtable invited a panel of economists to discuss the expectations ahead of this year’s budget. We also asked readers to share questions that they had regarding the interim budget. Livemint.com received a host of queries on social media. Some wanted to know the impact of possible farm loan waivers on the economy, while others asked whether the interim budget would be middle-class friendly. Watch the full video for answers by our panel of economists to a few selected questions.

The panel: Indira Rajaraman, an economist, former member of the 13th Finance Commission and a Mint columnist; Arvind Virmani, Chairman of EGROW Foundation and former Chief Economic Advisor; Himanshu, associate professor in JNU, development economist also a Mint columnist.