Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the annual Economic Survey in Parliament on Friday. According to the survey, India's GDP is expected to grow between 7 and 7.75% in 2016-17. This is a relative slowdown, which the survey attributes to a struggling global economy. It also pegged India's long-run GDP at 8-10%. According to the survey, the government will meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.9%.
The Economic Survey is the government’s report on the state of the economy over the last 12 months and reviews performance and policy decisions. It also makes key predictions for the next economic year, including announcing an estimated GDP rate. Earlier this month, the Centre had pinned the growth rate for the country at 7.6% in the 2015-16 fiscal.
The survey is always presented before the General Budget, which is expected to be out on Monday. Last year, the Economic Survey’s major policy concerns were the widening demand-supply gap in the housing sector and solutions for financing affordable homes, the Economic Times reported.
Here are the latest updates:
1.10 pm: The stock market reacted positively to the survey. The BSE Sensex gained more than 100 points, while the 50-share Nifty50 traded above the crucial 7,000 level.
12.52 pm: The unemployment rate is low, thanks to the informal sector.
12.45 pm: The ministry of finance shows that industrial growth has increased significantly in the last few years.
12.42 pm: The Economic Survey suggests that the RBI can relax its monetary policy, calling it "neutral". The RBI has maintained that it remains "accommodating", Bloomberg TV reported. The survey suggests reasonable taxation for the well-off. It also called for higher property taxes.
12.32 pm: According to India Today, the Economic Survey says the promise to reduce corporate tax from 30% to 25% should be recalled.
12.30 pm: The survey says India ranks the world's highest in milk production, accounting for 18.5% of the world's output. The share of Horticulture Output in agriculture is more than 33%. The survey predicts a good performance from the industrial, corporate and infrastructure sectors given the government's recent reforms.
12.25 pm: According to the government, India is a "haven of stability" in the gloomy global economy that has been hit by a decelerating China. The Economic Survey says the country's foreign exchange reserves have risen to $349.6 million. India’s long run potential GDP has been pegged at a heartening 8 to 10%. The rate of inflation is at 4.9%, down from 10.2% in 2012-13. The survey also claims that the government will meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.9% of the GDP and that the current account deficit is likely to be in the low range of 1 to 1.5% of the GDP.
12.20 pm: This is a snapshot of the Indian Economy (source: PIB)
12.10 pm: India's economy is expected to grow between 7 and 7.75% in 2016-17. Foreign exchange reserves have also risen this year. The Press Information Bureau made this useful chart:
Noon: The survey has been tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
9.30 am: The Finance Ministry, in an effort to go green, has decided to print fewer copies of the Economic Survey and Budget, and will make them available online. Several hundred of them, however, have arrived outside Parliament in the morning.
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