17:04 January 29
HIGHLIGHTS FROM CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR'S PRESS CONFERENCE:
'Optimism on health and economic fronts'
Given the largest vaccination drive and swift rollout, the Economic Survey is optimistic on both the health and economic fronts, CEA Subramanian said.
16:49 January 29
'Excessive regulation leads to opaque supervision'
"Contracts in real world cannot take care of all contingencies. Once we acknowledge this reality, incomplete regulations become inevitable. Excessive regulation leads to excessive and opaque supervision and exercise of discretion, thus making a call for simple regulation and transparent supervision," CEA KV Subramanian said.
16:46 January 29
'Access to bare necessities has improved'
"The access to bare necessities like water, food, sanitation, etc, has improved since 2012," the economic survey noted.
16:43 January 29
India enters top 50 innovative economies for first time
"India is a positive outlier for its level of development. India has for the first time entered the top 50 innovative economies this year," the CEA said.
16:43 January 29
'Avoid recurrence of post financial crisis issues'
"Avoid a recurrence of issues that manifested following Global Financial Crisis," the Economic Survey noted as a key policy lesson.
16:37 January 29
India likely to witness current account surplus after 17 years
India is expected to witness a current account surplus after a gap of 17 years. Foreign exchange reserves rose to all-time high of US USD586.1 Billion as of January 8, 2021. External debt decreases by USD 2.0 Billion, said Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian.
16:34 January 29
Insurance coverage up in states implementing Ayushmann Bharat
Insurance coverage has gone up by 54 per cent in states that implemented Ayushmann Bharat Yojana and the coverage has declined by 10 per cent in those states that have not adopted the scheme.
16:31 January 29
'India must pursue growth, use policies to reduce poverty'
"India must continue to focus on growth, so that we expand the pie, enabling redistributive policies that lift people out of poverty," the CEA said.
16:27 January 29
Case for increase in public healthcare spend
"The difference between cost of treatment in public and private sector is seven times for cardiac procedure, 3.5 times for cancer patients, for respiratory problems it is over five times," CEA Subramanian said.
"Increase in public healthcare spend to 2.5 per cent of GDP can reduce out of pocket expense of typical families on healthcare from 65 to 35 per cent," he said.
"It's not because the quality of healthcare is necessarily better in private sector, there is a case for better regulation of healthcare sector," he added.
16:20 January 29
Economic Survey calls for fiscal policy to support growth
The Economic Survey highlights potential of public investment, especially in a slowdown. It calls for fiscal policy to support growth and stresses on the need for rethink in fiscal rules.
16:16 January 29
'Debts will come down'
Illustrating that India's debt is sustainable, CEA Subramanian said, "Even if India were to have the real GDP growth rate as low as 3.8% each year from FY 23 to FY 29, the debts will still come down."
16:13 January 29
'China, India only nations to not be assigned AAA rating'
Emerging economies like China and India, when they became the fifth largest economy in the world, were only two countries that were not assigned triple AAA rating by sovereign rating agencies," CEA Subramanian said.
16:09 January 29
'Govt took short term pain for long term gain'
"India took short term pain for long term gain, recognised that GDP growth will recover, lost human lives cannot be brought back. India was the only country to announce structural reforms," CEA Subramanian said on India's COVID policy response.
16:06 January 29
'India announced discretionary measures in unlock phase'
"India realised very well that pushing down on the accelerator of a car while the brakes are already clamped only wastes fuel. Hence, India announced discretionary measures in unlock phase as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package," the CEA said.
16:03 January 29
'India focused on ensuring necessities in 1st phase'
India's policy response to COVID-19 considered nuanced impact of the pandemic on demand. PM Jan Dhan Yojana balances increased at the bottom of the pyramid during lockdown, showing precautionary motive to save. Given this uncertainty, India focused on ensuring necessities in the first phase," CEA Subramanian said.
16:00 January 29
'Lockdown had a causal effect on saving lives and livelihoods'
"Strong correlation of lockdown with decline in cases and deaths is found across states, not just within a few states. Hence Economic Survey infers that lockdown had a causal effect on saving lives and livelihoods," Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian said.
"Even without lockdown, the COVID-19 pandemic would have created a significant economic impact. But what the lockdown did ensure is help a coordinated response, enabling 'Saving Lives And Livelihoods'," he added.
15:52 January 29
'Deposits in Jan Dhan accounts increased during lockdown'
Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian said that during the lockdown, deposits in 40 crore Jan Dhan accounts went up by Rs 500.
15:50 January 29
'GDP growth will come back, but not human lives'
"During high uncertainty, policy should minimise large losses. India's policy response to COVID-19 was guided by the realisation that GDP growth will come back, but not lost human lives. Early intense lockdown saved lives, helped faster recovery," the Chief Economic Advisor said.
15:45 January 29
'Stringent lockdown aided strong economic recovery'
Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian said that the stringent nationwide lockdown helped in a strong economic recovery.
"Intensity and stringency of initial lockdown correlates well with both cases and deaths, both across countries and across states within India," the Economic Survey found.
15:40 January 29
Chapter 1 about India's policy response to COVID
"Chapter 1 of the Economic Survey is about India's policy response to COVID-19, saving lives and livelihoods, amidst a once-in-a-lifetime crisis," Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian said.
15:33 January 29
CEA launches Economic Survey
Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian launched the Economic Survey 2020-21 which had been tabled in the Parliament.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Economic Advisor KV Subramanian said this year's Economic survey is dedicated to COVID warriors.
14:25 January 29
LIVE: India's FY21 GDP to contract 7.7%, says Economic Survey
New Delhi: India's GDP is estimated to contract by 7.7 per cent during the current fiscal, said the Economic Survey 2020-21 on Friday.
The document which was tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha in its debt simulations for worst-case debt analysis assumed the contraction at (-) 7.7 per cent.
According to the survey, the real growth rate for FY22 was assumed at 11.5 per cent based on IMF estimates.
The document prepared by the Finance Ministry's Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian said general government debt for FY20 is taken as 73.8 per cent of the GDP.
"The primary deficit for FY21 is assumed to be 6.8 per cent of GDP... Primary deficit for FY22 is assumed to be 2.5 per cent of GDP.
"The declining trajectory of primary deficit is assumed to reach 1.5 per cent of GDP by FY24, and it is assumed to stay at 1.5 per cent thereafter," it added.
Read:President lauds farm laws, India's COVID fight in Parliament address
Besides, the survey cited that nominal interest rate is assumed to be 6 per cent.
"As on January 26, 2021, we estimate the weighted average cost of borrowing using the weights of general government borrowing across maturities to be 6 per cent.
"Inflation is taken as 5 per cent, i.e. mid-point of the range of 4 per cent - 6 per cent."
(IANS Report)
