Pravind Jugnauth will be facing a turning-point in his burgeoning political life as he presents his first budget ever on Friday. Whatever he says during his speech will probably shape the course of the economy for the years to come. The communication battle is already on. No ?no-tax budget? this time, says the Finance minister. But the real question is whether the budgetary measures will be bold enough to create the much-needed ?déclic?.

Can Pravind Jugnauth create the ?feel good? factor needed for businesses to flourish? Government complains that the business community is not making the most of incentives to invest more and create more jobs. On the other hand, board rooms hold government red tape as the main culprit for the low level of private investment. We are in a Catch-22 situation that takes us nowhere. Will the Budget break this subtle and yet dangerous deadlock?

Here is a chance for government to rethink its economic stewardship. The State has been drawing extensively on economic resources at the expense of private sector investment. The time has now come to restore sound fundamentals to the economy. This means, among other things, that businesses should take ownership of the nationwide industry strategy. For all the merits of business facilitation, the very idea of relying on policymakers to conceive, initiate and develop new industries is basically a flawed one. If government is really serious about sound finances, it should stop nurturing initiatives with poor economics.

Politicians and bureaucrats have been throwing around ideas about new avenues of growth. Thus, we have had our share of ?new industries?, from IT to seafood hub, in a span of a few years only. The Finance minister has to do some serious soul-searching here. Are we not overburdening our development agenda? Ministers cannot substitute for CEOs in identifying companies? growth strategies.

This, however, does not mean that government should drop pro-market policies. Policymakers must simply be more inventive. The facilitation and incubation infrastructure should be more discriminating. Industries at different stages of the development cycle need to be looked after differently. But, more fundamentally, enterprises should have entire freedom to choose the courses of action they consider best for themselves.

The next budget should give an indication of the size of government the economy will be willing to sustain in the future. Worldwide, markets are being increasingly regulated through appropriate competition rules rather than with the State intervening directly with public funds.

The time has come to infuse more liberal values in our economic policies. Will Pravind show the way on Friday?