New Delhi: India’s understanding of the private sector has moved away from “crony socialism to stigmatised capitalism”, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said on Monday following the tabling of Economic Survey in Parliament.
Addressing a press conference, Subramanian joked that he was “patenting” the phrase. “I am taking a patent for this phrase and someone who uses this phrase will have to pay me a small royalty. In our understanding of the role of the private sector, we have moved from crony socialism to stigmatised capitalism,” Subramanian said.
Highlighting major findings of the Economic Survey, Subramanian said that manufacturing export will drive growth in the near future, but rising crude price may prove to be a pain point.
“Exports have picked up briskly in the last three quarters. Manufacturing export is driving growth… rising oil prices affected consumption and held back real economic activity,” the CEA said. “If oil prices remain high, it will cause problems for the economy. For every $10 increase in crude oil prices, the thumb rule is that GDP will come down by 0.02 percent to 0.03 percent. Inflation will rise by 0.4 percent.”
Subramanian added that agricultural income may come down by 25% “due to big divide in irrigated India and non-irrigated India”.
Subramanian said the Economic Survey gives a clear idea of the size of the formal sector. “The economic size, physical strength and other important factors have been found for the first time.” He also counted the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as one of the major achievements of 2017.
When The CEA Instructed Journalists on What to Report
“If I were you and wanted to cover key issues for tomorrow morning, I would look at three to four points in the initial part of the survey,” said Subramanian.
Elaborating these points he said, “I would look at new income tax payers, understanding GST data and data on stock market.”
“You may ignore me but this is what I want you to go with,” added Subramanian.
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