The year 2017 is a historic year as it is divided into two equal halves: The pre-GST era and the post-GST era, when at the stroke of midnight on June 30 and July 1, the Goods and Service Tax (GST) — the biggest tax reform since independence — was launched by then-President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the historic central hall of parliament after a 14-year-long struggle.
Before the implementation of the GST, demonetisation, announced in November 2016, had started showing, rather slow, disruption in the economic growth; but a major set back came only in the April-June quarter when the GDP growth slumped to a three year low of 5.7% due massive pre-GST destocking.
2017 has also been a year of some big hits and misses. India, for the first time, made it to the top 100 of World Bank’s Ease of Doing index, followed by a surprise Moody’s sovereign rating upgrade from to Baa2 from Baa3.
Here’s an interactive timeline of major economic events in 2017:
However, the GST disruptions are continuing even after six months since its implementation due to glitches on the GST Network, even as the government is exploring ways to end traders’ woes. The GST collection in November hit an all-time low after the rate cut on as many as 178 items, while the government is struggling to keep the fiscal deficit within the target of 3.2%, which, at the end of the year, seems unlikely.