home page 





 

Homepage

Newsletter

Conferences

Banking




    budget special    main page | budget basics | budget glossary |budget highlights                                                                             Prev Economic survey |Prev Union Budget | Prev Railway Budget


Click for Economic Survey 2010-11
Click for Railway Budget 2011-12
Click for UNION BUDGET 2011-12


Indian Budget 2011-12-Full Text of Budget Speech
Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Finance- February 28, 2011


Overview of the Economy

11. On last Friday, I laid on the table of the House the Economic Survey 2010-11, which gives a detailed analysis of the economic situation of the country over the past 12 months. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is estimated to have grown at 8.6 per cent in 2010-11 in real terms. In 2010-11 agriculture is estimated to have grown at 5.4 per cent, industry at 8.1 per cent and services at 9.6 per cent. All three sectors are contributing to the consolidation of growth. More importantly, the economy has shown remarkable resilience to both external and domestic shocks.

12. Our principal concern this year has been the continued high food prices. Inflation surfaced in two distinct episodes. At the beginning of the year, food inflation was high for some cereals, sugar and pulses. Towards the second half, while prices of these items moderated and even recorded negative rates of inflation, there was spurt in prices of onion, milk, poultry and some vegetables. Of late prices of onion have crashed in wholesale markets and we have had to remove the ban on their exports.

13. Despite improvement in the availability of most food items, consumers were denied the benefit of seasonal fall in prices normally seen in winter months. These developments revealed shortcomings in distribution and marketing systems, which are getting accentuated due to growing demand for these food items with rising income levels. The huge differences between wholesale and retail prices and between markets in different parts of the country are just not acceptable. These are at the expense of remunerative prices for farmers and competitive prices for consumers.

14. Monetary policy stance in 2010-11, while being supportive of fiscal policy, has succeeded in keeping core-inflation in check. As the transmission lag in monetary policy tends to be long, I expect the measures already taken by the RBI to further moderate inflation in coming months.

15. The developments on India's external sector in the current year have been encouraging. Even as the recovery in developed countries is gradually taking root, our trade performance has improved. Exports have grown at 29.4 per cent to reach US Dollar 184.6 billion, while imports at US Dollar 273.6 billion have recorded a growth of 17.6 per cent during April-January 2010-11, over the corresponding period last year. The current account deficit is around the 2009-10 level and poses some concerns because of the composition of its financing.

16. Policy making in a globalised world has to take into account the likely international developments. To realise the desired outcomes, it is important that there is convergence in expectations of our investors, entrepreneurs and consumers on the macroeconomic prospects of the economy. Against this backdrop, the Indian economy is expected to grow at 9 per cent with an outside band of +/- 0.25 per cent in 2011-12. I expect the average inflation to be lower next year and the current account deficit smaller and better managed with higher domestic savings rate and stable capital flows. While, like last year, I seek the blessings of Lord Indra to bestow on us timely and bountiful monsoons, I would pray to Goddess Lakshmi as well. I think it is a good strategy to diversify one's risks.


MAIN PAGE OF INDIAN UNION BUDGET 2011-12 ... Click here



For Quick Budget Updates follow us on TWITTER.... http://twitter.com/banknet

For Indian Budget 2011-12 Highlights.... Click here










Advertise | Book Store | About us | Contact us | Terms of use | Disclaimer

© Banknet India | All rights reserved worldwide.
Best viewed with IE 4.00 & above at a screen resolution of 800 x 600 or higher