Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday hinted at a farm relief package in the interim budget.

Speaking at the India Business Leaders Awards (IBLA) in Mumbai, Jaitley acknowledged that the agriculture sector has been facing challenges. Any market adjustments made to relax this sector must be rational and not populist; the markets will tend to understand, he added.

“I cannot announce any decision but all I can tell you is that the farm sector from the very data itself as it indicates, has been facing challenges,” said the Finance Minister.

There have been speculations in the media that the government will announce major steps to curb farm distress in the weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections.

Jaitley stated that the challenge of revamping this sector lies in the increased farm productivity and surplus.

"If you look at the last few months, food prices have gone down and that reflects the kind of money that the farmers get,” Jaitley said.

Addressing this form of distress, according to him, thus, cannot be hinged on the label of a populist expenditure.

“Whether it’s a situation like natural calamity or a drought or it’s a situation like stress in a particular sector, these are all areas which cannot be considered any form of populistic expenditure," he added.