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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to table the Economic Survey 2024-25 in Parliament on Friday afternoon, providing key insights into the country's economic performance and shaping expectations for the upcoming Union Budget.
Ahead of the presentation, Sitharaman left her residence and is en route to Parliament. As is the convention, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the pre-budget detailed state of the economy document in the Parliament, a day ahead of the Budget presentation for the next financial year - 2025-26. Economic Survey will be tabled in Lok Sabha at 12 noon and at 2 PM in Rajya Sabha. The Economic Survey document, prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser, gives insights into the state of the economy and various indicators of 2024-25 (April-March) and some outlook for the next fiscal. The Economy Survey document may also give some idea about the tone and texture of the actual Budget for 2025-26, to be presented on Saturday. The first economic survey reportedly came into existence in 1950-51, when it used to be a part of the budget documents. In the 1960s, it was separated from the Budget documents and presented the day before the Union Budget. In 2022, the central theme was 'Agile Approach', which emphasized India's economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic shock. In 2023, it was 'recovery complete', when the economy staged a broad-based recovery from pandemic-induced contraction, Russian-Ukraine conflict, and inflation, and ascended to the pre-pandemic growth path. In 2024, it focussed on economic resilience. Typically, along with the sectoral chapters, the Survey document also adds new need-based chapters that call for special focus. All eyes will be on the key announcements and the government's forward-looking economic guidance for the remainder of the Modi 3.0 tenure. This upcoming budget comes in the backdrop of weak GDP numbers and weak consumption in the economy. With this upcoming Budget Presentation, Sitharaman will have presented seventh budget. She has already surpassed the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959 and 1964 as finance minister. The Indian economy grew by 5.4 per cent in real terms in the July-September quarter of the current financial year 2024-25. The quarterly growth was quite lower than RBI's forecast of 7 per cent. In the April-June quarter too, India's GDP grew at a slower pace than was estimated by its central bank. The budget session of parliament is beginning on January 31 and, according to schedule, will end on April 4. The budget will be presented on February 1. On budget day, the Finance Minister will present the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha at 11 am. The budget speech will outline the government's fiscal policies, revenue and expenditure proposals, taxation reforms, and other significant announcements. (ANI)
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