Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) of the Government of India, V. Anantha Nageswaran, stated that while the government is upbeat about growth, it is aware of the difficulties as the world grows more divisive and financial market values rise.
“We are actually very optimistic about growth but we are also mindful of the challenges which I listed to you about the way the monsoon has progressed about how since we wrote the interim economic survey in January where we were more confident about 7 per cent since then the global environment has become even more polarised and financial market valuations are much more elevated,” said V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) of the Government of India addressing the press.
“So given that we feel 7 per cent is doable, we want to be not necessarily cautious but somewhat prudent in projecting. We would rather be very pleasantly surprised than be forced to face disappointments; that is why we are projecting a growth rate between 6.5 to 7 per cent,” he said.
The Union budget 2024 announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled for July 23, prior to CEA Nageswaran’s press conference. According to the chief economist, the nation needs to create about 8 million, or 80 lakh, jobs a year.
“We estimate that India needs to create roughly around 8 million jobs or 80 lakh jobs per annum,” said Nageswaran.
According to the Economic Survey, the percentage of private consumption and recovering capital formation has allowed India’s real GDP to rise at an average pace of 8% during the last three years, which is 20% more than it was prior to the epidemic.
“Households are not in distress,” said Nageswaran. According to the chief economist, households are investing in the financial markets and the recent influx of retail investors into the stock markets through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) and Mutual Fund investments have resulted in them doing “very well” in the last four years.
“Our national income data do not record these at market prices, that is the reason why there is a feeling that financial liabilities have grown faster than financial assets of households. But financial assets of households are not mark-to-market so households are doing quite well,” said V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) of the Government of India.
