India’s economic growth is expected to remain in the range of 8 to 8.5 per cent in 2022-23 as against a projected growth of 9.2 per cent in the current financial year and a sharp contraction witnessed in 2020-21, according to the Economic Survey 2021-22 tabled in the parliament on Monday.
The Budget Session of the parliament commenced on January 31 with President Ram Nath Kovind’s address.
Economic Survey 2022 highlights: 10 points
- The Indian economy will witness GDP growth of 8.0-8.5 per cent in 2022-23. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the annual report in Lok Sabha on the first day of the Budget Session of Parliament.
- The survey said India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to expand by 9.2 per cent in the current financial year after contracting in 2020-21.
- Almost all indicators show that the economic impact of the “second wave” in the first quarter was much smaller than that experienced during the full lockdown phase in 2020-21 even though the health impact was more severe, the survey notes.
- “With the vaccination programme having covered the bulk of the population, economic momentum building back and the likely long-term benefits of supply-side reforms in the pipeline, the Indian economy is in a good position to witness GDP growth of 8.0-8.5 per cent in 2022-23,” said the annual survey report ahead of the Union Budget.
- “At the time of writing, a new wave in the form of the Omicron variant was sweeping across the world, inflation had jumped up in most countries, and the cycle of liquidity withdrawal was being initiated by major central banks. This is why it is especially important to look at India’s macro-economic stability indicators and their ability to provide a buffer against the above stresses,” the report says.
- Agriculture and allied sectors have been the least impacted by the pandemic and the sector is expected to grow by 3.9 per cent in 2021-22 after growing 3.6 per cent in the previous year, says the report.
- According to the survey, the Services sector has been the hardest hit by the pandemic, especially segments that involve human contact. This sector is estimated to grow by 8.2 per cent this financial year following last year’s 8.4 per cent contraction.
- Total Consumption is estimated to have grown by 7.0 per cent in 2021-22 with significant contributions from government spending.
- Exports of both goods and services have been exceptionally strong so far in 2021-22, but imports also recovered strongly with recovery in domestic demand as well as higher international commodity prices.
- The economy had contracted by 7.3 per cent during 2020-21 as against the projection of 6-6.5 per cent in the Economic Survey presented in Parliament months before the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
The first part of the Union budget session of Parliament will be held from January 31 to February 11 and the second part of the budget session will take place from March 14 to April 8.