Budget 2024: CEA Says Overhaul of India’s Statistical System Soon

Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran said the work to improve India's statistical system is underway at a brisk pace

Parth Singh

Updated on: 22 July 2024 7:00 pm

V. Anantha Nageswaran

The work to improve India’s statistical system is underway and soon the country will see the overhaul of the system becoming a reality, chief economic advisor to the Government of India V. Anantha Nageswaran said in a press-conference today.

Nageswaran, who was attending the questions of the media after giving a presentation on the economic survey 2023-24 released today, said, “Soon you will see these things becoming a reality in terms of newer indices with newer weights, components, etc. That work is underway at a brisk pace.”

His words were crucial on this matter as he authored the economic survey, which was presented in the parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a day before the presentation of the Union Budget.

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India’s statistical system has been the subject of significant criticism in recent years, leading economists to suggest that an overhaul is much needed. In an interview with Outlook Business in May, chairman of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic advisory council Bibek Debroy had said there are problems with the data and the government is looking into it.

“Everything does not come into the public domain, but the government and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) are trying to improve the system. Criticism of the statistical system has not only been coming from outside the government, but also within the government,” said Debroy.

Delays and discrepancies in essential macroeconomic data and surveys have a major implication on the policymaking exercise of the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to sources, the government wants to minimise these discrepancies in periodic datasets such as, gross domestic product (GDP), consumer price index (CPI), and index of industrial production (IIP).

Besides addressing the discrepancies, a senior government official in MoSPI had recently told Outlook Business that the frequency of employment surveys is set to be increased going forward, to improve the statistical system.