ECONOMIC SURVEY 2022-23

 

Get a strong foothold on your Civil Services Exam preparation by subscribing to the Vajiram & Ravi's Economic Survey 2023 Lecture Series here - Economic Survey 2022-2023 on Vajiram & Ravi Official YouTube Channel

 

 

Every year, a day before the Union Budget, the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance presents the Economic Survey of India in the Parliament. The Economic Survey 2023 has been developed by the Economics Division of the Department of Economic Affairs, under the guidance of Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor. The Economic Survey examines the developments of the Indian economy during the preceding twelve months and provides the outlook for the current fiscal year.

 

What is the significance of Economic Survey?

The Economic Survey highlights the nation's economic trends and makes it easier to understand how resources are mobilised and allocated in the Union Budget. In the survey, trends in infrastructure, employment, money supply, pricing, imports, exports, foreign exchange reserves, and other important economic parameters that affect the budget are analysed.

 

How is the Economic Survey 2023 relevant to the UPSC Civil Services Exam?

 

The Economic Survey is relevant to the Prelims, Mains, and Interview phases of the UPSC Civil Services Exam.

• The Economic Survey details are directly questioned in the Prelims Test. Nearly half of the 15-20 Economics-related questions asked in the UPSC Prelim Test are focused on the Economic Survey.
• All four Mains GS Papers, such as Polity, Society and Social Issues, Economic Development and the Main Exam's Essay Paper, can benefit from the inclusion of data, facts, figures, and statistics to boost scores. The answers can also incorporate the issues that have been analysed and the suggested reforms. If Economics is an aspirant's optional subject, such information is highly valuable for the Economics Optional Paper I.
• When responding to questions on the Personality Test, an aspirant can draw on the data and analysis from the Economic Survey 2023.

 

What is the theme of the Economic Survey 2023?

Given that India enters “Amrit Kaal” (2022–2047) and is “presiding over the G20” from December 2022 to November 30th, 2023, upholding "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam," it strives to reform and develop India through new strategies, reforms, and a vision.

The Introductory video of Vajiram & Ravi's Economic Survey 2023 Lecture Series, which is delivered by our subject-expert Dr. Jayant Parikshit covers the previous and current Economic Survey Themes, Highlights, and changes in the importance assigned to the chapters, all in accordance with UPSC relevancy.

 

 

What chapters are covered in the Economic Survey 2023?

 

Chapter 1: State of the Economy: Recovery Complete

The state of the economy shows how it has come through yet another year of twists and turns in the worlds of economics and politics. It also shows India’s performance based upon different macroeconomic indicators.

Chapter 2: India’s Medium-Term Growth Outloook: With Optimism and Hope

Chapter 2 analyses India’s medium-term economic outlook and concludes that it looks bright. It is an analysis of the financial cycles and the role it plays in influencing economic growth over the medium term. India’s financial cycle endured a downturn last decade because credit expansion in the millennium’s first decade ultimately proved unsustainable. The chapter tells the story of how the government navigated the economy through a period of financial stress wherein corporate, banking and non- banking balance sheets were repaired and restored to health. It records the wide-ranging structural reforms and governance improvements that the government has undertaken since 2014.

Chapter 3: Fiscal Developments: Revenue Relish

Chapter 3 focuses on India’s fiscal policy trajectory and examines the evolution of the Goods and Services Tax as a source of durable and dependable revenue for states and the centre. Given India’s demographic advantage and annual nominal GDP growth potential to be around 10 per cent to 12 per cent on average in the coming years, fiscal parameters will continue to improve.

Chapter 4: Monetary Management And Financial Intermediation A Good Year

During the year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates swiftly to prevent the second-round effects of the inflation shock from commodities from affecting economic activity. That played a big part in the relative stability of the Indian rupee against the US dollar in a year of dollar strength. India’s capital markets have been a historical success story. International benchmark indices of Indian stocks have outperformed their emerging market and global peers over the long haul. In short, Indian stocks have rewarded investors well over the years. Foreign portfolio investors have significantly benefited from that.

Chapter 5: Prices and Inflation: Successful Tight-Rope Walking

This chapter tells the story of the convergence of India’s wholesale and retail prices throughout the year. India’s wholesale price inflation leapt to 16.6 per cent in May 2022, and the gap between wholesale price inflation and consumer price inflation widened. When the wholesale price inflation is high, there is always a risk that it will pass through to retail prices. The gap or the wedge between the two closed by the end of the year as global commodity prices retreated and the government took proactive measures to rein in their domestic prices.

Chapter 6: Social Infrastructure and Employment: Big Tent

Social welfare is not an afterthought for the government, but its leitmotif. The comprehensive and ‘leave no one behind’ approach that the government has adopted for social welfare gets full treatment in this chapter. The chapter highlights how the use of technology has enhanced the quality of life for citizens to ensure the reach of social sector schemes to intended beneficiaries, especially during the pandemic. The transformations in the lives of the citizens happening through the Aspirational Districts Programme, Direct Benefit Transfers, use of Aadhaar and various initiatives in the education, health and basic infrastructure availability are highlights of the chapter.

 Chapter 7: Climate Change and Environment: Preparing to face the future

Climate change and the environment are not only hot-button issues globally but are critical to India realising its aspirations. Hence, India currently spearheads one of the most robust climate actions through its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which includes an ambitious programme for transitions to clean energy in the world. Despite the adverse impacts of Covid-19 on the economy, the country has enhanced its climate ambition manifold.

Chapter 8: Agriculture and Food Management: From Food Security to Nutritional Security

The health of the farm sector is critical for the economic and social well-being of the country. India has achieved domestic food security and has become a net exporter of farm output to the world. The potential is larger. This chapter documents India’s transition from food security to nutritional security and the importance that the government accords agricultural productivity.

Chapter 9: Industry: Steady Recovery

The Indian industry is on the cusp of a growth revival facilitated by public investment and policies that have eased business conditions and improved viability. Bank credit to industry has picked up momentum, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises. Among other things, the pandemic had caused a shift in the attitude towards supply chains from efficiency to security. Supply chains are being reconfigured. India now has the physical and digital infrastructure to raise the share of the manufacturing sector in the economy and make a realistic bid to be an important player in global supply chains.

Chapter 10: Services: Source of Strength

India’s services sector is a source of strength and is poised to gain more. India is large enough to accommodate and nurture vibrant manufacturing and services sectors. From low to high value-added activities with export potential, the sector has enough scope to generate employment and foreign exchange and contribute to India’s external stability.

Chapter 11: External Sector: Watchful and Hopeful

As a country with a large merchandise trade deficit because of its dependence on imported fuel, the external sector is always watched closely, especially during rising oil prices. A slowdown in global growth has led to slower export growth, but the combined value of goods and services exports in current dollars for April – December 2022 is 16 per cent higher than in April –December 2021. India’s foreign direct investment has been steady, and investors’ interest in including India in their supply chain diversification is now noticeably higher. PM Gati Shakti and the National Logistics Policy are expected to play big roles in improving India’s cost and export competitiveness in the years ahead.

Chapter 12: Physical and Digital Infrastructure: Lifting Potential Growth

In 2019, the Government of India adopted a forward-looking programmatic approach towards infrastructure. The National Infrastructure Pipeline was born with a projected investment of around ₹111 lakh crore for FY20-25 for developing a comprehensive view of infrastructure development in the country. The growth and evolution of India’s public digital infrastructure is a story not just numbers and milestones but also of thoughtful regulatory and innovation architecture that have enabled it to retain its public good character with enough incentives for the private sector to innovate and invest. The untapped potential is huge, and the country needs to continue to innovate. With digital technology and infrastructure, one has to keep running to hold onto one’s place.

 

 

How to read Economic Survey 2023 for UPSC Prelims & Mains?

 

Prelims: The majority of the objective questions in the Economics section are based on current events and cover a wide range of topics, including conceptual comprehension as well as numerous facts, trends, and data, pertaining to the Economic Survey.

 

Main Exam: High utility for General Studies, Essay and Optional papers. The following GS papers and topics can make use of the Economic Survey 2023 information:

GS I: Social Issues related to Indian Society, Women, Poverty and Development, Urbanisation and Globalisation

GS II: Government Policies and Programmes; Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections; Issues related to poverty, hunger and social sectors such as health, education, and human resources

GS III: Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Growth, Development and Employment; Inclusive Growth, Infrastructure, Investment models, Government Budgeting; Indian agriculture: prospects and issues, and environment conservation

GS IV: Utilization of Public Funds; Quality of Service Delivery

 

The concepts, trends, and case studies included in the Economic Survey are also quite useful and can be applied extensively in the Essay Paper as well as in the Optional Papers.

We have repeatedly observed that many questions in both General Studies and Optional Papers clearly address the Economic Survey from that particular year, as well as a fair degree of application of the principles and ideas presented therein.

 

What is Vajiram and Ravi’s approach in creating the Economic Survey Lecture Series?

 

We at Vajiram understand the importance of this document and have curated the content and created crisp videos out of it. Each video covers:

1. Relevant topics from the UPSC perspective.
2. Use of flowcharts and diagrams which helps in easy grasp and shows interlinkages across topics.
3. Each video gives a brief description of basic concepts of economics before delving deeper into the Economic Survey content of that topic.
4. Discussion of Mains related questions from the relevant topics of the Economic Survey.
5. Every lecture concludes with MCQs with explanation answers to help aspirants get a feel of the questions that UPSC can ask from the topic.

With our videos and question-and-answer sessions in the Economic Survey Series, Vajiram & Ravi will help you with your preparation. The Economic Survey 2023 lecture series and its summary are both accessible on the official Vajiram & Ravi YouTube channel as well as the websites www.vajiramandravi.com and www.vajiramias.com

 

Follow the links below for more information:

• Economic Survey 2022-23:  https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/economicsurvey

• Economic Survey 2022-2023 Highlights: https://pib.gov.in

• Economic Survey 2021-22: https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/budget2021-22

• Economic Survey 2020-21: https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/budget2020-21