Jaitley to table Economic Survey in Parliament today: Here's what to expect

A day before the Modi government’s maiden budget is presented in Parliament, finance minister Arun Jaitley will table the Economic Survey for 2013-14 in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The Economic Survey is the Finance Ministry’s view on the annual economic development of the country and gives a broad idea on the macro economic data of the country which will impact Budget decisions.

A flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Survey reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months, summarizes the performance on major development programs, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the Finance Ministry will lay emphasis on a roadmap for revival of the economy in the Budget. It is expected that the Finance Minister is going to talk about attracting foreign investment through FDI inflow and also how caps for FDI across sectors could be increased.The Finance Minister is also expected to send out a positive signal to foreign investors on how they will not send out notices based on retrospective tax.

FY15 GDP growth is likely to be estimated at 5.4-5.9 percent, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing NewsRise. The survey may also seek revamp of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, the report said.

According to CNBC’TV18’s Executive Editor Latha Venkatesh, this year’s survey is likely to lay emphasis on fiscal prudence and the need to kick-start growth through market related policies.

“The pointers that economists would look at would be if there were any populist measures or measures to actually curb populism. However, one should not hope for detailed cues for tomorrow’s Budget because it is likely to be short on specifics. Although one may get a broad vision,“she said.

India’s economic growth remained subdued at 4.7 percent in 2013-14 and at 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter of the financial year, mainly due to a decline in manufacturing and mining output. The country’s economy, or gross domestic product (GDP), had expanded at 4.5 percent in 2012-13, the slowest pace in the past decade.

Growth in 2013-14 was less than the Central Statistics Office’s advance estimate of 4.9 percent. The economy expanded 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2012-13, according to official data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

With inputs from Agencies