One could argue that this is just an interim budget, and the final numbers will be different. That's not true. Our analysis of the fiscal deficit targets set in the interim budget and the final budget in the last two election cycles (in 2014 and 2019) shows that the interim targets are usually retained. So, why is the government opting for faster consolidation? We see this as the government's signal to five constituents: private sector, foreign investors, rating agencies, the RBI and politicians.