Today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the pre-budget Economic Survey in the Parliament a day before the Union Budget presentation will be held on July 23. The Economic Survey, which is key for presenting the country’s economic situation and outcomes, is developed by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance. It is prepared under the guidance of the Chief Economic Adviser rank of the Ministry of Finance.
Growth in Economic Sectors
Thus, it has been said in the economic survey that the services sector has been growing at the rate of 7.6%, respectively, for the fiscal year 2024. This is quite encouraging and shows the increasing growth of the sector, further confirming its growth and contribution to India’s overall economy. On the other hand, the agriculture sector has an average annual growth rate of 4.18% at constant prices in the past five years.
To a similar effect, the survey overviews India’s position in the global economy, stating that the country’s services exports stood at 4.4% of the total global exports of commercial services in 2022. This helps in highlighting India’s role in the global services market.
Price Fluctuations
The Economic Survey also speaks about the changes in commodity prices and the main factors explaining the recent surge in tomato prices caused by diseases prevalent in some regions affecting crops, monsoon advances, and logistics problems. In the same manner, adverse weather hampers production by hindering sowing, unavailability of onions results from a combination of postponed sowing and actions taken in other nations affecting supply.
According to the survey, it used the international organisations’ forecast from the IMF and ADB, assuming India has a growth rate of 7%. However, the survey itself cautiously puts the real GDP growth rate at 6.5-7%. It stated that although market expectations are higher, the risks are well managed.
Employment
The Economic Survey also highlights the seriousness of the employment challenge and stresses the solution to creating millions of new jobs in the non-farm economy, which is expected to be at 78.5 lakh jobs to be created annually till 2030 in order to employ this ever-expanding workforce.
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