While attending an event in New Delhi on March 26, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Mr. V Anantha Nageswaran assured that the various initiatives undertaken by the Union government would bear fruits and create greater job opportunities during the decade.
Mr. Nageswaran said, “The last decade of the century was marked by a decline in capital formation in the economy and moderation in credit growth. Hopefully, those things are a thing of the past. Non-food credit growth is now running close to 20 per cent, balance sheets of companies and banks are in good shape and hiring (is showing improvement).”
Quoting data from previous years, the CEA stated that employment in agriculture declined by 15 lakh, manufacturing and services added 37 lakh jobs each, and the construction sector generated 19 lakh jobs. He remained optimistic that such growth would be sustained in the future when the robust gross value-added growth in the manufacturing and construction sector is taken into account.
He maintained that the government had been investing greater wealth to bolster the physical infrastructure of the country that would eventually facilitate industrial and manufacturing development, and thereby generate employment and restore the health of financial institutions such as banks and non-banks.
When asked if he had some suggestions in this regard, Mr. Nageswaran stated that there is a need to make regulatory and tax policy implementation regimes less burdensome, less cumbersome, less coercive, and less predatory.
