For much of the past two years, the Modi government over-promised and under-delivered. There seems to be a U-turn at this point to promise less, deliver more. Or that is what the Economic Survey, 2016, seems to be suggesting.
Look at the growth assumption for FY17. In its recent report, the World Bank lowered India's GDP growth forecast for 2016-17 to 7.8 per cent. The IMF retained it at 7.5 per cent. And the Economic Survey projects it in the range of 7 to 7.75 per cent. To call it conservative would be an understatement. Governments love to tom-tom about how good they are doing. They do that all the time. Yes, the banking system is broken and the stress is there all over the infrastructure sector. But many other indicators, including consumption data, promise better growth prospects for the economy in the coming year.
