TLI Staff
New Delhi: As Economic Survey offers a sneak peek into the much-awaited Union Budget, all eyes are on the Modi government’s report card for FY21 which would be presented in Parliament on January 29.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the key document, authored by CEA K.V. Subramanian, ahead of the Union Budget 2021-22 on February 1.
The Economic Survey will provide comprehensive details about economic activities in the past ten months and give GDP growth projection for the coming fiscal.
Battered by the pandemic, the economy contracted 23.9% in the first quarter of the current fiscal and 7.5% in the second quarter, and is expected to record its worst annual performance in the last four decades.
The economy is, however, set to be on track and report double digit growth in FY22 as a result of favorable base.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said India could register 11.5% growth in 2021 thus making the country as only major economy in the world to post a double-digit growth this year.
Making annual budgets are always a challenging exercise for the government but pandemic has made it even more daunting this year.
Faced with revenue shortfall and economic activities still not back to the pre-Covid level, the government would lay out a plan for meeting its expenses and financing capital projects.
Besides detailing the developments in various sectors, the Economic Survey 2020-21 will suggest measures to reinvigorate the economy in the short and medium terms.
Though many sectors have shown signs of recovery, helped by pent-up demand during the nationwide lockdown, sustained recovery is yet to be seen.
For instance, country’s automobile sector which is considered a barometer of the health of economy has seen growth picking up. But new investments are yet to be lined up by automakers given the uncertainty around demand and stable growth pattern continues.
Given that there have been massive job losses in the wake of pandemic, the Economic Survey 2021 is expected to recommend measures to boost employment in the country. There are expectations that it will suggest measures to boost exports, creating more jobs in urban areas and further easing of rules for doing business.