Explained: Why the Economic Survey matters

Beyond the summary, the Economic Survey also paints a variety of future scenarios, highlighting likely challenges and pointing to possible solutions.

Each year, a day before the presentation of the full-fledged annual Union Budget, the country Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) releases the Economic Survey. This year’s edition will be presented on July 4 and it would be the first one to be presented under the leadership of the new CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian. However, notwithstanding the close proximity of its release with the Union Budget, the Economic Survey is not exactly a predictor of the Budget proposals. Still, it is a very important document because it provides an authoritative, detailed and official annual summary of the current state of play in the Indian economy.