Budget needs to prioritise strategies for sustainable economic growth

The government is unlikely to be pleased with the FAE, which could increase challenges both for the current year and the medium term

The first advance estimates (FAE) of national income for this financial year (2024-25), released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Tuesday, showed the Indian economy would expand 6.4 per cent as against 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. The NSO’s estimate is also marginally lower than the 6.6 per cent growth rate projected by the Reserve Bank of India, and will be the lowest after the Covid year contraction (2020-21). In nominal terms, the economy is expected to expand 9.7 per cent, compared to 9.6 per cent last financial year. The FAE was keenly awaited after the second-quarter growth rate