Economic Survey 2012-13

A flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Economic Survey 2012-13 reviews the developments in the Indian economy over a year, summarizes the performance on major development programmes, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term. The Survey analyses the trends in all the important macroeconomic parameters such as public finance, inflation, balance of payments, trade, agriculture, growth, infrastructure, fiscal consolidation as well as financial intermediation, human development, and sustainable development and is used as a vehicle to send important messages to policymakers. Both an analytical as well as a document recording rigorous statistical data and covering all aspects of the economy-macro as well as sectoral- the Economic Survey 2012-13 critically examines and forecasts: growth rate at 6.1-6.7 per cent for 2013-14 WPI inflation at 6.2-6.6 per cent by March reforms to tackle economic slowdown strong call for cutting subsidies The Report identifies three major challenges facing the Indian economy in the long run: job creation for seizing the demographic dividend; increase in savings to ensure shift from consumption to investment; and to bring down inflation by reducing the fiscal and current account deficit. With job creation as the central theme, the Survey calls for reform of infrastructure, better and more effective regulation, and improvements in access to land and finance to encourage investment.