Ahead of the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey in Parliament on Thursday, July 4. According to the survey, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected at 7 percent in 2019-20 fiscal. The survey said, "Real GDP growth for the year 2019-20 is projected at 7 per cent reflecting a recovery in the economy after a deceleration in the growth momentum throughout 2018-19."
This projection, higher than a growth rate of 6.8 percent in the previous financial year, could help India regain the status of the world's fastest-growing economy by overtaking China. The Economic Survey also stated that the real GDP growth projection for the financial year 2019-20 reflects a recovery in our economy after a deceleration in the growth momentum in 2018-19.
The Survey pegs fiscal deficit for 2018-19 at 5.8 percent against 6.4 percent in 2017-18. Also, this survey referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stated target of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025 and said that to achieve the target, the country needs to sustain a GDP growth rate of eight percent.
A snapshot of the Indian Economy from the Economic Survey 2019.
Krishnamurthy Subramanian, who took over as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in December 2018, prepared the Economic Survey of India and tabled it before the Parliament today.
Krishnamurthy Subramanian took to Twitter to share key points of Economic Survey 2019:
- Looking beyond the economics of equilibrium, Survey makes case for investment-driven "virtuous cycle" to sustain growth at 8%. Investment the "key driver" of simultaneous growth in demand, jobs, exports & productivity.
- In an unpredictable world, policymaking needs: 1. Clear Vision: #Economy5trillion, 2. Strategic blueprint: #EcoSurvey2019,3. Tactical tools for constant recalibration based on real time data. Data must be created as a public good "of the people, by the people, for the people"
- Indian MSMEs need to be freed from shackles that convert them into dwarfs. MSMEs need to be seen as a source of innovation, growth and job creation.
- #EcoSurvey2019 argues that nudging behaviour change is simplest way to change gender equations, business culture, sanitation culture, health culture and so on.
- One of the biggest hurdles to #Economy5trillion is poor enforcement of contracts and dispute resolution. Steps to speed up legal process should be top priority.
The survey comes at a time when the Modi-led BJP government, in its first term, delivered a jobless growth. As per the government's economic survey, the country will face a challenge on the fiscal front following an economic slowdown impacting tax collections amid rising state expenditure on the farm sector.
