indica News Bureau-
The largest export destination remains the United States of America (USA), followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, and Hong Kong, according to the Economic Survey 2019-20, which was tabled in Parliament by Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday. According to the Survey, India’s merchandise trade balance improved from 2009-14 to 2014-19 on the back of a decline in crude prices. The merchandise exports-to-GDP ratio declined to 11.3 per cent, due to weakened global demand and heightened trade tensions over 2018-19 to H1 of 2019-20.
The annual Economic Survey is usually presented a day before the finance minister tables the Union Budget in the Parliament. Prepared by the economic division of the Department of Economic Affairs, it serves as the official report of the economy. Economic Growth is expected to “strongly rebound” to 6-6.5 per cent in 2020-21 from 5 per cent estimated in the current fiscal. The Survey said there are tentative signs of bottoming out of slowdown in manufacturing activity and global trade, which will have a positive impact on growth in the next fiscal.
The theme for the 2019-20 Economic Survey is ‘wealth creation’, said Chief Economic Advisor CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian on Friday, soon after the Survey was tabled in the Lok Sabha on the eve of the Union Budget.
Talking about 5 trillion American dollar economics, he said, “We have a slowdown in the Indian economy, and part of it is because of the global economy slowing down in 2019,” Mr. Subramanian said at the press conference.
“India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically on promoting “pro-business” policy that unleashes the power of competitive markets to generate wealth, and weaning away from “pro-crony” policy that may favour specific private interests, especially powerful incumbents.”
Government intervention, sometimes though well intended, he said, often ends up undermining the ability of the markets to support wealth creation and leads to outcomes opposite to those intended.
