Eco Survey 2014 details course economy needs to undertake: Arvind Mayaram

NEW DELHI: The pre-Budget Economic Survey details the course the Indian economy needs to undertake urgently to revive growth and realise its long-term potential, a top finance ministry official has said.

"The Economic Survey 2013-14 conveys a sense of urgency about the course the economy needs to undertake not only to recapture the growth momentum but to also ameliorate long-standing structural problems that undermine the economy's long term potential," Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram wrote in a foreword of the 2013-14 Survey tabled in the Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely today.

Mayaram further said recent years have been challenging for the global economy.

"A steady recovery from the crisis of 2008-09 was hampered by subsequent developments including the recession in the Euro area that led many advanced economies to resort to unconventional monetary policy to boost economic activities," he wrote in the survey, presented the day before the Union budget.

Mayaram also expressed concerned over deceleration in growth in several emerging economies in recent years.

"Even initial signs of recovery in many advanced economies are visible, deceleration in growth in several emerging economies in recent years, prominently India and China, is not good news for a fledging global recovery," he said.

For the current fiscal, the Survey said the growth will improve to between 5.4-5.9 per cent, after remaining at sub-5 per cent level for past two years, even as poor monsoon and disturbed external environment remain a cause for concern.