Economic Survey makes a case for economic freedom; less govt interventions

Retail inflation in onion had crossed 300% in December

The Economic Survey, presented in Parliament on Friday, made a case for doing away with outdated government interventions, arguing that they hurt more than they helped.

“Anachronistic government interventions” like the Essential Commodities Act (ECA), drug price controls, farm debt waiver, and those in food grain markets stifle “economic freedom”, which undermines the ability of markets to support wealth creation, it said.

“… Each department and ministry in the government must systematically examine areas where the government needlessly intervenes and undermines markets ... Eliminating such instances will enable competitive markets and thereby spur investments and economic growth,” the Survey noted. It added