Finance Minister P Chidabaram today presented India Economic Survey Report 2013 at the Parliament ahead of Budget. The Highlights and Features are listed below.
* GDP growth to remain between 6.1 percent to 6.7 percent in 2013-14
* WPI inflation to moderate in the range of 6.2 percent to 6.6 percent
* Economy estimated to grow at 5 percent in 2012-13 after growing by 6.2 percent in previous year
* Poor show of services sector contributed significantly to slowdown
* Global as well as domestic factors responsible for slowdown
* FDI in retail can pave the way for investment in new technology and marketing of agricultural produce
* The survey has a special chapter focused on jobs
* Fast agricultural growth remains vital for jobs, incomes and food security.
It has also called for curbs on import of gold and crude oil by making their prices more market determined. It also wants policy action to bridge the widening trade imbalance.
The Economic Survey 2012-13 Â said that as the room to increase exports in the short-run was limited, the main focus had to be on curbing imports.
“Aligning domestic energy prices with the global prices, especially when large imports are involved, may be ideal option as misalignment could pose both micro- and macroeconomic problems,” said the Survey, authored by Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rangarajan.