India Economic Survey 2017: Govt may refrain from making comments on fisc deficit, says Sen

Even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley prepares to table the Economic Survey 2017 in Parliament on Tuesday, former Principal Advisor to Planning Commission Pronab Sen has expressed apprehensions over the applicability of the Economic Survey 2017 in the Budget.

Seconding the views of commentators, political and otherwise, Sen said there seems to be a consensus that Budget 2017 will be more political than economic. It would be hard to guage how much the survey will weigh on the Union Budget, he told CNBC-TV18.

The survey will also steer clear of making comments on fiscal deficit on the back of measures such as demonetisation, he added.

The government isn’t bound to follow these recommendations and only serve as a policy guide. The Economic Survey, in the past, has favoured policy moves that come into conflict with the official line of thinking of the government in power. These do not necessarily serve as pointers to what to expect in the annual Budget. On many occasions, policy changes recommended in the Economic Survey have not been reflected in Budget proposals.