Explainer: Economic Survey 2024; Who Presents It, When, Timing, And Why This Survey Is Vital For Economy?

A day before the Union Budget FY25 announcement on July 23, the Economy Survey of India will be presented on July 22. This survey is vital giving details of the current economic scenario, and provides a growth trajectory for the respected financial year. It is the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who will table the Survey on Monday.

What Is an Economy Survey?

This survey is introduced every year, just before the Budget on February 1 ahead of the start of the new financial year. However, since 2024, there was the Lok Sabha Election, and the full-fledged Budget along with the Economy Survey is presented by the party on the winning side. In this election, PM Modi and his party bagged their third win so it will be his government who will present both the key annual documents.

The Survey is introduced in both houses of the Parliament.

Who Will Present the Economic Survey?

The survey will be tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and is prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the Finance Ministry. The document is overseen by the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) who will also present the survey on Monday, before the parliament.

CEA of India is currently V Anantha Nageswaran.

Timing And Date:

The survey will be presented in the first half of July 22 in both upper and lower houses of Parliament.

Why There Was No Interim Economic Survey Like Interim Budget In 2024?

As per the laws of Parliament, the reigning government should not present an Economic Survey in line with the interim Budget during an election year. Hence, the entire is scheduled to be presented after the election, after the ruling party's government once again formed and takes oath.

That's why, the entire Economic Survey 2024 will be held on July 22.

Why Economic Survey Is Important?

This document of the Ministry, the Economic Survey of India reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the past financial year, summarizes the performance of major development programs, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term, as per Wikipedia.

Economic Survey 2023:

This survey which was presented on January 31, 2023, came at a time when global uncertainties were rife.

Barely had the pandemic receded, and the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022. Prices of food, fuel and fertiliser rose sharply. As inflation rates accelerated, central banks of advanced countries scrambled to respond with monetary policy tightening. Many developing countries, particularly in the South Asian region, faced severe economic stress as the combination of weaker currencies, higher import prices, the rising cost of living and a stronger dollar, making debt servicing more expensive, proved too much to handle, as per the survey of 2023.Indian

Economy Today And Ahead:

Just before the Budget session for 2024 could start, last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised India's GDP growth target to 7% for FY25, up by 20 basis points from its previous 6.8% forecast. This hints that India's economy continues on its resilient and fastest-growing economy path in the world. It also signals that private consumption, particularly in rural India, is bettering.

For FY26, the IMF estimates GDP growth of 6.5% in India, which has been unchanged.

IMF said the forecast for growth in India has also been revised upward, to 7.0 per cent, this year, with the change reflecting carryover from upward revisions to growth in 2023 and improved prospects for private consumption, particularly in rural areas.

IMF's forecast is 20 bps lower from RBI's projection of the country's economy.

In the June 2024 policy, RBI said, going forward, high-frequency indicators of domestic activity are showing resilience in 2024-25. The southwest monsoon is expected to be above normal, which augurs well for agriculture and rural demand.

Coupled with sustained momentum in manufacturing and services activity, this should enable a revival in private consumption. Investment activity is likely to remain on track, with high capacity utilisation, healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates, the government's continued thrust on infrastructure spending, and optimism in business sentiments. Improving world trade prospects could support external demand, RBI said.

Also, RBI highlighted that headwinds from geopolitical tensions, volatility in international commodity prices, and geoeconomics fragmentation, however, pose risks to the outlook.

Taking all these factors into consideration, RBI estimates real GDP growth for 2024-25 is at 7.2%.

For FY24, India's real GDP has been estimated to grow by 8.2% in FY 2023-24 as compared to the growth rate of 7.0% in FY 2022-23. Nominal GDP has witnessed a growth rate of 9.6% in FY 2023-24 over the growth rate of 14.2% in FY 2022-23.

Economic Survey History:

The first Economic Survey of India was presented in 1950-51 as part of the Union Budget. After 1964 it was separated from the Budget and presented each year during the Budget Session before the presentation of the budget. The document is non-binding. Nevertheless, is constructed and presented each year due to its significance.