Table of Contents
THE CONTEXT: The Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, presented the Economic
Survey 2021-22 in Parliament on 31 January 2022. The highlights of the Economic Survey are as follows:
STATE OF THE ECONOMY
- Indian economy estimated to grow by 9.2 percent in real terms in 2021-22 (as per first advanced estimates) subsequent to a contraction of 7.3 percent in 2020-21.
- GDP projected to grow by 8- 8.5 percent in real terms in 2022-23.
- The year ahead poised for a pickup in private sector investment with the financial system in good position to provide support for economy’s revival.
- Projection comparable with World Bank and Asian Development Bank’s latest forecasts of real GDP growth of 8.7 percent and 7.5 percent respectively for 2022-23.
- As per IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook projections, India’s real GDP projected to grow at 9 percent in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and at 7.1 percent in 2023-2024, which would make India the fastest growing major economy in the world for all 3years.
- Agriculture and allied sectors expected to grow by 3.9 percent; industry by 11.8 percent and services sector by 8.2 percent in 2021-22.
- On demand side, consumption estimated to grow by 7.0 percent, Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) by 15 percent, exports by 16.5 percent and imports by 29.4 percent in 2021-22.
- Macroeconomic stability indicators suggest that the Indian Economy is well placed to take on the challenges of 2022-23.
- Combination of high foreign exchange reserves sustained foreign direct investment, and rising export earnings will provide adequate buffer against possible global liquidity tapering in 2022-23.
- Economic impact of “second wave” was much smaller than that during the full lockdown phase in 2020-21, though health impact was more severe.
- Government of India’s unique response comprised of safety-nets to cushion the impact on vulnerable sections of society and the business sector, significant increase in capital expenditure to spur growth and supply side reforms for a sustained long term expansion.
- Government’s flexible and multi-layered response is partly based on an “Agile” framework that uses feedback-loops, and the use of eighty High Frequency Indicators (HFIs) in an environment of extreme uncertainty.
Fiscal Developments
- The revenue receipts from the Central Government (April to November, 2021) have gone up by 67.2 percent (YoY) as against an expected growth of 9.6 percent in the 2021-22 Budget Estimates (over 2020-21 Provisional Actuals).
- Gross Tax Revenue registers a growth of over 50 percent during April to November, 2021 in YoY terms. This performance is strong compared to pre-pandemic levels of 2019-2020 also.
- During April-November 2021, Capex has grown by 13.5 percent (YoY) with focus on infrastructure-intensive sectors.
- Sustained revenue collection and a targeted expenditure policy has contained the fiscal deficit for April to November, 2021 at 46.2 percent of BE.
- With the enhanced borrowings on account of COVID-19, the Central Government debt has gone up from 49.1 percent of GDP in 2019-20 to 59.3 percent of GDP in 2020-21, but is expected to follow a declining trajectory with the recovery of the economy.
External Sectors
- India’s merchandise exports and imports rebounded strongly and surpassed preCOVID levels during the current financial year.
- There was significant pickup in net services with both receipts and payments crossing the pre-pandemic levels, despite weak tourism revenues.
- Net capital flows were higher at US$ 65.6 billion in the first half of 2021-22, on account of continued inflow of foreign investment, revival in net external commercial borrowings, higher banking capital and additional special drawing rights (SDR) allocation
- India’s external debt rose to US $ 593.1 billion at end-September 2021, from US $ 556.8 billion a year earlier, reflecting additional SDR allocation by IMF, coupled with higher commercial borrowings.
- Foreign Exchange Reserves crossed US$ 600 billion in the first half of 2021-22 and touched US $ 633.6 billion as of December 31, 2021.
- As of end-November 2021, India was the fourth largest forex reserves holder in the world after China, Japan and Switzerland.
Monetary Management and Financial Intermediation
- The liquidity in the system remained in surplus.
- Repo rate was maintained at 4 per cent in 2021-22.
- RBI undertook various measures such as G-Sec Acquisition Programme and Special Long-Term Repo Operations to provide further liquidity.
- The economic shock of the pandemic has been weathered well by the commercial banking system:
- YoY Bank credit growth accelerated gradually in 2021-22 from 5.3 per cent in April 2021 to 9.2 per cent as on 31st December 2021.
- The Gross Non-Performing Advances ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) declined from 11.2 per cent at the end of 2017-18 to 6.9 per cent at the end of September, 2021.
- Net Non-Performing Advances ratio declined from 6 percent to 2.2 per cent during the same period
- Capital to risk-weighted asset ratio of SCBs continued to increase from 13 per cent in 2013-14 to 16.54 per cent at the end of September 2021.
- The Return on Assets and Return on Equity for Public Sector Banks continued to be positive for the period ending September 2021.
- Exceptional year for the capital markets:
- Rs. 89,066 crore was raised via 75 Initial Public Offering (IPO) issues in April-November 2021, which is much higher than in any year in the last decade.
- Sensex and Nifty scaled up to touch peak at 61,766 and 18,477 on October 18, 2021.
- Among major emerging market economies, Indian markets outperformed peers in April-December 2021.
Prices and Inflation
The average headline CPI-Combined inflation moderated to 5.2 per cent in 2021-22 (April-December) from 6.6 per cent in the corresponding period of 2020-21.
- The decline in retail inflation was led by easing of food inflation.
- Food inflation averaged at a low of 2.9 per cent in 2021-22 (April to December) as against 9.1 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
- Effective supply-side management kept prices of most essential commodities under control during the year.
- Proactive measures were taken to contain the price rise in pulses and edible oils.
- Reduction in central excise and subsequent cuts in Value Added Tax by most States helped ease petrol and diesel prices.
Wholesale inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rose to 12.5 per cent during 2021-22 (April to December). This has been attributed to:
- Low base in the previous year,
- Pick-up in economic activity,
- Sharp increase in international prices of crude oil and other imported inputs, and
- High freight costs.
Divergence between CPI-C and WPI Inflation:
- The divergence peaked to 9.6 percentage points in May 2020.
- However, this year there was a reversal in divergence with retail inflation falling below wholesale inflation by 8.0 percentage points in December 2021.
This divergence can be explained by factors such as:
- Variations due to base effect,
- Difference in scope and coverage of the two indices,
- Price collections,
- Items covered,
- Difference in commodity weights, and
- WPI being more sensitive to cost-push inflation led by imported inputs.
With the gradual waning of base effect in WPI, the divergence in CPI-C and WPI is also expected to narrow down.