Economic Activities Reviving To Pre-Pandemic Levels: Principal Economic Adviser

The overall scenario, as envisaged in the economic survey, portrays revival of economic activity to pre-pandemic levels, principal economic adviser Sanjeev Sanyal, who led the preparations of the economic survey, told media persons while addressing the press conference on the document.

“There has been a revival of economic activity to pre-pandemic levels, as can be seen by many indicators like e-way bills collections, which have shown growth after having slumped during the second wave in the first quarter of the current fiscal,” Mr Sanyal said.

Referring to gross value added (GVA) related growth of various sectors, the principal economic adviser said that agriculture sector was the least affected by pandemic-induced lockdowns and is expected to have a growth rate of 4 per cent during the current fiscal.

The shape of economic recovery can best be described as a “tilted W”, he said, which is what the best minds in the country could come up with.

During the pandemic, the domestic industry sector witnessed erratic upward and downward movement, contractions as well as revivals and this led to the economic recovery resembling a “tilted W”.

He added that while sectors like financial, real estate and professional services have seen growth and gone back to the pre-pandemic levels, sectors which are contact-intensive like travel and tourism are still impacted.

Mr Sanyal added that the economy is estimated to grow by 9.2 per cent in 2021-22 as mentioned in the economic survey, while in 2022-23, the GDP growth is expected to be 8 per cent to 8.5 per cent.

 “The post-Covid world will be influenced by geopolitics, climate change and supply chain. All these factors will impact our economy,” he said, adding that Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative is the response to global supply chain disruptions.

Earlier, the newly appointed chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said that while preparing the economic survey for 2021-22, government has kept in mind medium term stability, supply side reforms as well as process reforms.

Mr Nageswaran, who joined the finance ministry just last week, handed over the responsibility of explaining the intricacies of the economic survey document to Mr Sanyal.