Economic Survey Tabled In Parliament; What You Need To Know

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the first Economic Survey of the re-elected Narendra Modi government in Parliament on Thursday, a day ahead of the tabling of the Union Budget for 2019-20.

The survey, projecting the state of health of the country’s economy and outlining the challenges ahead of the Union budget, predicts 7 per cent GDP growth in the current financial year.

This year’s Economic Survey is prepared by Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian.

Here are 10 things to know about the Economic Survey:

1. Typically, an Economic Survey provides a policy perspective for the Union Budget.
2. The survey highlights policy initiatives of the government and a roadmap to further boost the economy.
3. An economic survey also summarises the performance on major development programmes and highlights the policy initiatives as well as the economic prospects over the short to medium period.
4. The Economic Survey is presented a day before the Union Budget to both houses of Parliament during the Budget Session.
5. As the flagship document of the finance ministry, the Economic Survey provides detailed statistical data covering all aspects of the economy.
6. It facilitates a better appreciation of the mobilisation of resources and their allocation in the Budget.
7. The Economic Survey analyses the trends in agricultural and industrial production, infrastructure, employment, money supply, prices, imports, exports, foreign exchange reserves and other relevant economic factors which have a bearing on the Budget.
8. The Economic Survey helps the government to determine which sectors to focus on going forward.
9. For a better appreciation of the impact of government receipts and expenditure on different sectors of the economy, it is necessary to group them in terms of certain economic magnitudes.

10. The last Economic Survey (for financial year 2017-18) was prepared by the then Chief Economic Adviser, Arvind Subramanian, on January 31, 2018.