Economic Survey may project 9% GDP growth for FY 2022-23

It has been reported that The finance ministry is likely to project economic growth rate of around 9% for the next financial year (2022-23) in the Economic Survey to be presented tomorrow. The ministry is expected to come out with a single volume for 2021-22. As per the recent report of the World Bank, India is projected to grow at 8.7%

The Economic Survey 2020-21, released in January last year, had projected GDP growth of 11% during the current financial year ending March 2022, the report said.

The Economic Survey is tabled in Parliament by the Finance Minister ahead of the Union Budget. Days ahead of the Economic Survey, the government on Friday appointed V Anantha Nageswaran as the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). Nageswaran, an academic and former executive with Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius Baer Group, succeeds K V Subramanian, who demitted office of CEA in December 2021 after the completion of his three-year term.

Dr Nageswaran will address a press conference at 3:45 pm tomorrow after presentation of Economic Survey 2021-22 by finance minister in Parliament, the report said.

The first Economic Survey of the Modi government presented by the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in July 2014 was prepared by Senior Economic Advisor Ila Patnaik. At that time the post of CEA was vacant following the appointment of Raghuram Rajan as Governor of Reserve Bank of India. Later, Arvind Subramanian moved in as CEA in October 2014.

Indian economy, as per the advance estimates of the National Statistical Office (NSO), is expected to record a growth of 9.2%during the current fiscal, which is a tad lower than 9.5 per cent projected by the Reserve Bank, the report said.

On account of the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent nation-wide lockdown to check the spread of the virus, the economy contracted by 7.3 per cent during 2020-21. The impact of virus on the economy was comparatively less during the current financial year as the lockdowns were local in nature and did not cause large-scale disruption in economic activity.

The Economic Survey 2020-21 had said growth will be supported by supply-side push from reforms and easing of regulations, push for infrastructural investments, boost to manufacturing sector through the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, recovery of pent-up demand, increase in discretionary consumption subsequent to rollout of vaccines and pick up in credit given adequate liquidity and low interest rates. (Mint)