[Economic Survey 2016-17] Highlights Economic Survey 2016-17, Download Economic Survey 2016-17

January 31, 2017:  The survey was prepared by the finance ministry's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian. Union finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the Economic Survey 2016-17 in

Parliament budget session. The survey projects the economy to grow in the range of 6.75% to 7.25% in fiscal year 2017-18 in the post-demonetisation year. It says that the adverse impact of demonetisation on GDP growth will be transitional.

Here are the highlights of the report:

Growth

* 2017/18 GDP growth seen between 6.75 and 7.5 per cent year on year

* GDP growth rate at constant market prices for the current year 2016/17 is placed at 7.1 per cent

* The federal statistics office's estimate of 7.1 per cent growth for 2016/17 likely to be revised downwards

* Service sector is estimated to grow at 8.9 per cent in 2016/17

* Industrial growth rate expected to moderate to 5.2 per cent in 2016/17 from 7.4 per cent in 2015/16

Fiscal Deficit

* Implementation of wage hike, muted tax receipts to put pressure on fiscal deficit in 2017/18

* Need for fiscal prudence for both centre and states for fiscal health of the economy

* Fiscal windfall from low oil prices to disappear in2017/18 - TV channels

Monetary Policy

* Sharp rise in prices in 2017/18 may cap monetary easing headroom

* Market interest rates seen lower in 2017/18 due to demonetisation

Government debt

* Government debt to GDP ratio in 2016 seen at 68.5 per cent down from 69.1 per cent in 2015

Demonetisation

* Remonetisation will ensure that the cash squeeze is eliminated by April 2017

* Supply of currency should follow actual demand and not be dictated by official estimate of desirable demand

* Government windfall arising from unreturned notes should be deployed towards capital spending

Banks

* Suggests setting up public sector asset rehabilitation agency to take charge of large bad loans in banks

* Central agency with government backing could overcome coordination and political issues on bad loans

Taxation

* Income tax rates and real estate stamp duties could be reduced

* Timetable for reducing corporate tax rate could be accelerated

Universal basic income

* Universal Basic Income (UBI) proposal a powerful idea, but not ready for implementation

* UBI an alternative to plethora of state subsidies for poverty alleviation

* UBI would cost between 4 and 5 per cent of GDP

Download Economic Survey 2016-17 : Here