Growth Story: Speed Bumps Ahead

The Indian economy has witnessed a structural shift in its growth trajectory and has broadly been maintaining a growth rate of 9% in recent years.

Agriculture credit disbursement up

The Economic Survey 2007-08 has outlined the increasing exposure of the scheduled commercial banks to the agriculture and rural sector.

Real GDP likely to grow at 8.5%

Time deposits with banks during 2007-08 grew 16.7% compared to 14.8% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

No Left turn, straight bat on FDI helped

If the Economic Survey is to be taken as an indication, the government is toying with the idea of allowing 100% foreign equity in branded specialised retail companies, while advocating a liberal foreign investment regime in insurance and banking services sectors.

Indian bourses costliest among emerging markets

The government admitted on Thursday that the Indian equity market was the costliest among the prominent emerging markets, including South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Lower dependency ratio, more jobs for one and all

The government appeared to have understood the serious impact of skill shortage in the country. Creating a pool of skilled personnel will be the government’s main thrust, reveals the Economic Survey 2007-08.

More fuel in SEZ fire, tab proliferation to cool heat

At a time when the Centre is in talks with the Goa government to scrap all special economic zones in the state following widespread agitations against such tax-free enclaves, the Economic Survey has added fuel to the fire by suggesting the need to check the proliferation of such zones in the country.

Challenge lies ahead...

The salient feature about this year’s Economic Survey is the reforms agenda that it has mooted. Ranging from the need for agricultural modernisation to strengthening of the debt market, the Survey has suggested a series of reforms which will catapult India into the 21st century.

Farm sector decline to hurt growth

The Economic Survey 2007-08 has expressed serious concerns over the deceleration in the agriculture sector and has called for appropriate reforms, including proper channelisation of food and fertiliser subsidies.

High oil prices may lay slippery track for economy

The brewing energy crisis, following a phenomenal increase in the international crude oil prices, may soon grip India’s economy.

Strike balance between employment & growth

The government should focus on creating skilled workforce, in order to bring employment in sync with growth, said the Economic Survey 2007-2008, indicating that a record economic growth has not created adequate jobs.

Infra projects need an investor-friendly policy

The Economic Survey 2007-08 has called for a comprehensive and simpler policy framework to raise funds to finance India’s infrastructure requirements.

Reform ideas are suicidal

A wish list of the neo-liberal reformers in the policy establishment is contained in the Economic Survey 2007-08 under “Policy Reform Options”.

Global slowdown to dampen foreign trade prospects

India’s foreign trade sector is in for tough times, indicates the Economic Survey that has cited the global slowdown in 2008 as a crucial hindrance for exporters and importers in the coming months.

Call for tighter fiscal regime in 2008-09

The Economic Survey 2007-08 has called for a tighter fiscal regime as it raises questions about meeting revenue deficit target under the Fiscal Reform and Budgetary Management in the next fiscal.

Winds of change that usher in new hopes

The Economic Survey 2007-08 has suggested a number of far-reaching policy measures including overhauling the country’s foreign investment regime, allowing longer working hours and divesting government’s stakes in public sector companies.

Tightroping the growth

Economics, they say, is the painful elaboration of the obvious. Any housewife, pensioner, middle income salaried person and student in India would have told us of the pinch they are facing in making ends meet, with prices of many household items having gone up much faster than their incomes.

A cautious pat on inflation front

Keeping prices under control will be one of the key challenges for the government, even though inflation rate is expected to moderate this fiscal, the Economy Survey for 2007-08 has said.

Double-digit growth requires more reforms

Sustaining 9% growth rate will be a challenge for India because of inflationary pressures and infrastructure constraints. Pushing it beyond that will be even more difficult, the Economic Survey said. Besides, deceleration in the agriculture sector and troubles in the US economy may compound the problem.

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