Economic Survey 2019-2020

India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced the Economic Survey 2019-20. The economic survey was introduced in Parliament on January 31, 2020. It gave a detailed account of various sectors of the economy. Following is an outline of the Economic Survey 2019-20:

• The country needs to focus on network products and overall commodities which will further help in creating jobs. 
• Make in India is encouraged for improving the country’s skill development and also integrates the slogan “Assemble in India for the world”

Economy

The survey showcases a slow down in GDP growth with 4.8% in H1 in 2019 and 6.2% in H2 in 2018. The slowdown was a result of a reduction in global manufacturing, trade and demand. There was a sharp decline in GDP growth from H2 of 2018-9 to H1 of 2019-20.

With the reduction in crude prices, the imports were on a higher mark in H1 of 2019-20. Agricultural supply was moderately higher in the current year. 

The National Infrastructure Pipeline Project has given some room for GDP growth in the financial sector in the second half of 2019-20. India’s GDP is recorded at 5% and is expected to increase in the second half of the year.

Industry

• Based on the Index of Industrial Production, The industrial sector expected growth of 0.6%, a slight increase from the previous financial year. 
• The manufacturing industry showed a big drop due to the pandemic, falling 0.9% 20 in 2019 from 4.9% in 2018-19. 
• Several published reports show an investment of Rs 1.02 million in India as part of a five-year infrastructure development plan. The report was published by the Task Force on the National Infrastructure Pipeline.
• India’s service sector is booming at a faster pace. It accounts for almost 55% of the total size of economic and GVA growth. 
• The country’s external debt remains at 20.1% of total GDP. Revenues from the country’s agriculture and its subordinate sectors fell significantly from 18.2% in 2014-15 to 16.5% in 2019-20.
• The focus will be on rationalising interstate food subsidies. Special attention must be paid when addressing the challenges faced by the poor and the vulnerable parts of society. Food subsidy claims were raised to Rs 1,71,127.5 million in 2018-19.

Fiscal Developments

In the first eight months of 2019-20, revenues grew faster than they did in the same period last year, with most of this increase being non-tax revenue.

• For the fifth time this year (up to December 2019), gross GST monthly revenues have surpassed Rs 1 lakh.

Monetary Management and Financial Intermediation

• The government postponed four MPC meetings in the financial year because of a 110 basis points reduction in the repo rate due to slower growth and lower inflation.
• Between March and September 2019, the Gross Non-Performing Advances ratio for scheduled commercial banks remained steady at 9.3 per cent.
• From 12.9% in April 2019 to 7.1% on December 20, 2019, bank credit growth (YoY) slowed.

Human Development

Human development is also considered an important part of the economy of a country. Education, Health and population efficiency help a nation improve its economy. It’s also taken into account various commodities that help in boosting the GDP of the country which include, Petroleum, Coal, and electricity. India’s ranking on the Human Development Index rose from 130 in 2017 to 127 in 2018.

Creating Jobs by Specialising in Growth

1. Growth in exports is quite important and is indeed required to develop jobs.
2. India needs to take steps in the export trajectory and welcome the opportunity to grow unparalleled jobs.
3. As China is unable to continue offering the best class work due to the unavailability of labour and shortage of wages, India has the right time to grab the opportunity to provide thousands of jobs to the people. 
4. Due to the US-China trade war, the counties are looking forward to alternate places for their operation. 

Conclusion

The Economic Survey 2019-20, highlights the dropping of the GDP rate in India from 6.5% to 6%. The survey noted that the year 2019 was a difficult year for the global economy with world output growth growing at its slowest pace of 3.9% making the overall economic scenario turn bad. The inflation rate has also been discussed which is affecting the country’s economic growth. Consumer Price Index(CPI) increased from 2.1% to 4.1%. Overall estimated growth of agriculture and tooling machinery decreased from the previous years.