Kerala finance minister T Sivadasa Menon, who inaugurated the debate by a panel of experts on industry, planning and public finance, called upon the media's role not only to enlighten the masses on the Budget but also prepare them for it. He lauded the pioneer role of The Financial Express in launching a public discussion on the Budget as soon as it was delivered by the Union finance minister.

As the first budget under the mushroom cloud was avidly watched by both economists and non-economists all overthe country, Menon said, "One reads the Budget not as a mere revenue-expenditure statement, but as the policy watchword of the government in power".

He pointed out that the Union government's decision to go ahead with nuclear experiments had cost India dearly in terms of trade sanctions. This was a break off from the commitment to peace for which the country had stood from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru. Now that the nuclear step was taken, the question was how to make the best out of a bad situation in the financial front.

I S Gulati, noted economist and vice-chairman of Kerala State Planning Board, said that the focus of the Budget 1998-99 was the defence allocation. In his keynote address, he said that every economist's apprehensions about this Budget centred around whether the Budget's proposed share for defence expenses will go up or down. In the context of the country's nuclear tests, the government's prioritisation of defence expenditure has assumed enormous significance, he said.