Government’s Chief Economic Advisor K. Krishnamurthy on Friday said that there is no change in the $5 trillion economy timeline by 2025.
“No change in the deadline (for achieving the 5 trillion dollar economy)”, the CEA said as he answered a query on whether the deadline would be overstepped for achieving the 5 trillion dollar target given the slowdown.
He was addressing a press conference after the Economic Survey 2019-20 was presented earlier in the Parliament.
Krishnamurthy added that there is a slowdown in investment, demand and consumption as well.
The Economic Survey has put current fiscal year 2019-20’s growth rate at 5% (from the earlier projected 7%) while estimating economic growth at 6-6.5% in the fiscal year starting April 1 (2020-21). The survey projected 7% GDP growth for the current fiscal in the July Budget.
Last year the Economic Survey called for bright prospects for economic growth making its theme on enabling a “shifting of gears”, “to achieve the objective of becoming $ 5 trillion economy by 2024-25, as laid down by the Prime Minister”.
It had said that India needs to sustain a real GDP growth rate of 8%.
The survey says it departs from “traditional thinking by advocating a growth model for India that views the economy as being either in a virtuous or a vicious cycle and thus never in equilibrium”. The question mark on achieving the 5 trillion dollar economy with 5 per cent growth has put a question mark on its viability with continued slump in demand, consumption and growth.
The government’s first estimate of GDP for the fiscal has projected 5% GDP growth in Q2, the growth had slowed to a six-year low of 4.5%.
(With input from agencies)