Economic Survey 2017-18: Volume I

The Economic Survey, submitted annually by the Ministry of Finance to both houses of parliament, provides data based on which the government formulates its budget. The survey presents an overview of the challenges to the economy, traces the development of its major sectors, and  measures the performance of various policies and schemes. It also discusses how the ministry has addressed various challenges and makes recommendations for economic policy. Volume I of the Economic Survey 2017-18 has chapters on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the investment-saving slowdown, fiscal federalism* and accountability. And also on long-term economic convergence**, gender inequality, climate change and agriculture, delays in appeals and judicial process, and science and technology. This is the first Economic Survey to come out after the introduction of GST and so, it delves deeply into how the tax has affected internal and external trade, the size of the tax net, and the formal and informal sectors. Notes *Fiscal federalism refers to the financial relations between different units of a federal government system. **Economic convergence refers to the hypothesis that the per capita income of poorer economies will grow faster than that of richer economies, and that all economies will eventually converge in terms of their per capita income.