Economic Survey: Meaning, Importance and Highlights– The Economic Survey, an important annual report that analyses the state of the Indian economy. A day before the budget is presented, the survey is introduced in Parliament. However, the Constitution neither binds the government to present the Economic Survey nor is the government obliged to go with its recommendations. It is completely left to the government to decide if it will adopt or reject the suggestions made in the Economic Survey.
January 2023 Current Affairs Quiz
Significance of Economic Survey:
The Survey enables a bird’s-eye view of trends seen in several industries over the preceding year, including, for example, agriculture, manufacturing, employment, infrastructure, prices, exports, imports, foreign exchange reserves, and money supply.
- It highlights the government’s policy initiatives, reviews the performance of development programmes and discusses the prospects of the economy in the short- and medium-term scenarios.
- Importantly, the survey projects the gross domestic product (GDP) growth, and provides an insight into the economic outlook for the country.
- It pinpoints the quality of policy responses needed under the prevailing economic situation.
Why is it presented before the Budget:
The survey provides key inputs which influence the budget-making process. Considering the fact that it provides a detailed analysis of economic developments of the past financial year, it sets the context for the budget.
The survey was de-linked from the Budget in the year 1964 and circulated in advance so that a context of the Budget can be provided. This way it helps in better understanding of the budget proposals.
History of Economic Survey:
The first economic survey was released in the financial year (FY) 1950-51.
- In the next 14 years that followed, it was presented along with the Union Budget.
- Starting from 1964, it preceded the budget and was released a day before the budget session in the parliament.
Who prepares the Economic Survey:
Under the general direction of the Chief Economic Adviser, the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry created the Economic Survey. After receiving inputs from the senior officers in the Ministry of Finance, the final version of the Economic Survey is scrutinized by the Finance Secretary and finally approved by the Union Finance Minister.
Dr V Anantha Nageswaran as Chief Economic Advisor :
Nageswaram was a former part-time member of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC). Since KV Subramanian announced his intention to return to academia after his three-year term ends on December 17, 2021, he has taken over as the new CEA. Prior to this appointment, Nageswaran has worked as a writer, author, teacher and consultant. He has taught at several business schools and institutes of management in India and in Singapore and has published extensively.
He was the Dean of the IFMR Graduate School of Business and a distinguished Visiting Professor of Economics at Krea University. From 2019 to 2021, he served as a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.