Economic Survey 2014: Downside risk to GDP growth exists if monsoon is below normal, says Kuntal Sur

The Economic Survey for 2013-14 was tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley a day before the Union Budget for 2014-15. The survey, which is a general report on the state of the Indian economy, "for the first time covers FRBM Act and the need for a framework to target CPI inflation", according to Kuntal Sur, Partner, Financial Risk Management, KPMG in India, who feels that this clearly indicates that fiscal consolidation and inflation control are the two key objectives for the new government.

"The survey also deals with moderating food inflation through common market for agricultural commodities, decentralized procurement for PDS and review of fertilizer subsidy and we can expect tom’s budget to have a detailed roadmap on these areas," Sur said.

He however cautioned that a downside risk exists to the GDP growth if the monsoon is below normal, though the survey expects the FY15 GDP growth to be between 5.4-5.9%.