Govt tables Economic Survey in Parliament

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday tabled the Economic Survey 2017 in Parliament. The presentation of the Survey kick started the Budget session, following President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to a joint session of Parliament.

Reports said that the survey may recommend Universal Basic Income (UBI) that the government may or may not accept and incorporate in key policy decisions.

Government officials were quoted as saying that Survey has proposed  to implement UBI through “direct transfers to the bank accounts of the poor to replace subsidy payments and other payouts.”

UBI is a fixed amount of money that residents of a country get on a regular basis.

The Survey is also expected to lower down the GDP growth estimate to 6.5 per cent for 2016-17. It has also pegged a 6.75 to 7.5 per cent GDP growth in 2017-18.

The benchmark Sensex dropped over 98 points and the NSE Nifty slipped below the 8,600-mark in early session on Tuesday as participants kept their bets to a minimum tracking the Economic Survey due later in the day.

The 30-share index was down 98.02 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 27,751.54, with IT, auto, technology, metal and PSU trading in the negative zone, falling by up to 0.92 per cent.

The 50-share NSE Nifty was trading lower by 36.75 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 8,596.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs had recommended that the Budget session should commence on January 31 and the Union Budget be presented the next day so that the new financial provisions come into force on April 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.