Economic Survey: CII President says fiscal deficit guidance to give space for increased capital expenditure
Jan 31, 2023
New Delhi [India], January 31 : Sanjiv Bajaj, president of the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that the government's view on the fiscal deficit target for 2022-23 is commendable, thus helping in maintaining the credibility and macro-economic stability and create space for increased capital expenditure.
The Economic Survey said Union Government is on track to achieve the budget estimate of a 6.4 per cent fiscal deficit in 2022-23.
The survey added the resilience in the fiscal performance of the Union government has been facilitated by the recovery in economic activity, buoyancy in revenues from direct taxes and GST, and realistic assumptions in the Budget.
"The Survey has eluded that the government is on track to achieve the fiscal deficit target for the year despite fiscal pressures, which is commendable," Bajaj said.
"This would not only help maintain credibility and macro-economic stability but would also create the space for increasing capex significantly, especially in the infrastructure sector, to drive the economic growth engine in the current year and beyond," he added.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today tabled the Economic Survey for 2022-23 in Parliament on the first day of the Budget Session.
The Economic Survey document, formulated under the supervision of the chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, gives insights into the state of the economy and various indicators in the current financial year 2022-23 (April-March) and outlook for the next year.
Further, reacting to the Economic Survey 2022-23 CII"s Bajaj said the document offered a detailed, comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the Indian economy, while presenting some interesting facts and figures.
"This would provide a rich repository of information and insights on the economy which would hopefully provide some idea on what the budgetary numbers could look like," he said.
The Economic Survey has projected a baseline GDP growth of 6.5 per cent in real terms in next financial year 2023-24.
"The actual outcome for real GDP growth will probably lie in the range of 6.0 per cent to 6.8 per cent, depending on the trajectory of economic and political developments globally," the Economic Survey survey read.
