At present, the only discussion across the country is Budget 2026. Everyone's eyes are on these questions: What box will Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman open for the upcoming financial year, how much tax relief will be given and what will happen to inflation. But just 24 hours before these big promises and announcements of the budget, an incident happens in the Parliament, which actually tells the real condition of the economic health of the country. It is called 'Economic Review' or 'Economic Survey'. Often the general public ignores this important document in the noise of the budget, whereas the reality is that the foundation of the budget rests on this document.
Economic Survey is the annual 'report card' of the Central Government. Just as the school examination results tell how the student has studied throughout the year, in the same way the economic review tells how the country's economy has performed in the last one year. While the budget is a blueprint for the golden dreams and plans of the future, the Economic Survey is a concrete mirror of the past. This document tells without any pretense that the targets set in the last budget were achieved and where they were lacking. From this it becomes clear how much the government's claims match the ground reality.
This document is considered to be the most important publication of the Finance Ministry. The responsibility of preparing it rests with the Department of Economic Affairs of the Finance Ministry. This entire process is headed by the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). Presently this responsibility is being handled by V. Ananth Nageswaran. Under his supervision, an entire team of economists thoroughly analyzes the data received during the last 12 months on fronts like agriculture, industry, service sector and foreign trade. When this document is completely ready, the Finance Minister approves it, after which it is tabled in Parliament.
Actually, Economic Survey is the only document which presents the correct picture of inflation, unemployment and GDP growth rate. There are two important parts in it. The first part tells the state of the entire economy (macro-economic), which shows whether the country is heading towards recession or progress. Whereas, the second part focuses on issues like health, education, poverty and social development. If the economy appears strong in the survey, then it can be expected that the government can provide relief to the taxpayers in the budget. At the same time, if the situation appears weak, then one has to be prepared for tough decisions also.
This time the Economic Survey (FY27) is to be presented in both the Houses of Parliament on 29 January. As per tradition, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will lay it in the House. After this, Chief Economic Advisor V. Ananth Nageswaran will tell the country through a press conference what is the current situation of the Indian economy and how the coming year could be. This document helps not only the MPs but also the general public to understand whether the economic direction of the government is right or not.
