Tabling Of The Economic Survey For The Upcoming Budget
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be tabling the Economic Survey in Parliament today. Authored by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, the annual survey is expected to bring to light the policy priorities of the government. The survey also provides information about the state of the economy after the implementation of GST.
The Economic Survey projects the official version of the state of the economy and is generally presented in Parliament a day before the presentation of the annual Budget. It acts as a precursor to the budget. It discusses the outlook, prospects and challenges of the economy while recommending reform measures that are essential to propel the economy.
The 2017-18 budget saw the highest ever allocation to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) — the world’s largest make-work programme — at Rs 48,000 crore, but 56% wages were delayed and 15% wage seekers did not find work in 2016-17, an IndiaSpend analysis of government data shows.
The allocation to be announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February, 2018, when he presents his government’s last full-year budget ahead of the general elections in 2019 will be closely watched, even as his government has decided to “pump an additional Rs 7,000 crore into the rural job scheme” for the current financial year, as The Telegraph reported on 5 January, 2018.
MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme–that is, wage seekers can register to obtain work under the programme. Only 85% of people who registered as wage seekers found work in 2016-17, according to data from the MGNREGA dashboard.
The survey is expected to project an economic growth trajectory for the year ahead after the World projected a growth forecast of 7.3% for India. The IMF, however, pegged India’s growth rate at 6.7% in 2018. Further, while GST rate changes, which are the preserve of the GST Council, may not figure in the survey or the budget, there could be quite a few legislative changes in the GST law, which has been announced in the earlier meetings. There are also expected to be quite a few policy level announcements relating to infrastructure, real estate etc. which would also have an impact on the relevant indirect taxes.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
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