7% GDP Forecast & Other Key Highlights from Economic Survey 2019

The Economic Survey is the annual report of the Indian economy for the year gone by (2018-19).

Nirmala Sitharaman stepped into the shoes of Arun Jaitley, who opted out of Modi 2.0 Cabinet.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, 4 July, tabled the Economic Survey for FY20 in the Rajya Sabha, projecting a growth rate of 7 percent.

Prepared by Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian, the Economic Survey comes amid Prime Minister Modi's recently announced aim to make India a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024.

The Economic Survey details the annual report of the Indian economy for the last fiscal year.

Catch all the live updates of the Economic Survey here.

Here are the key highlights of the Economic Survey 2019:

• India still the fastest growing major economy in 2018-19.
• India GDP growth has averaged a high 7.5% in last 5 years.
• MSMEs need to be seen as a source of innovation, growth and job creation.
• Fiscal deficit of central government declined from 3.5 percent of GDP in 2017-18 to 3.4 percent in 2018-19.
• Oil prices are expected to decline in 2019-20.
• Slow growth, GST, farm schemes will pose challenges on fiscal front, the survey states.
• Rural wage growth which had “bottomed out” has been on the rise since mid-2018.
• Prospects of pick-up in growth in 2019-20 on the back of further increase in private investment and acceleration in consumption.
• Food inflation based on Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) also continuing on its declining trend for fifth financial year has remained below 2.0 percent for the last two consecutive years.
• India’s Monetary Policy Committee framework has been successful in containing inflation.