Budget 2019: 5% unemployment rate is not very high, says DEA secretary Subhash Chandra Garg

Krishnamurthy Subramanian, chief economic adviser, and Subhash Chandra Garg, secretary, economic affairs, shared their views and readings on the interim Budget 2019.

The government has followed fiscal prudence very diligently, said Subramanian, adding that India currently has a high growth rate with historically low inflation.

“Significant benefits have gone to the middle class which puts disposable income in the hands of those that are important,” he added.

“We are in a global environment where there are headwinds that come from globalisation. As a result, it is extremely important for us to create robust growth in the domestic economy and that has been done by putting disposable income in the hands of the domestic consumers,” Subramanian said.

Talking about farm sector, he said that the government has identified that marketing is very important for the sector.

Garg said that unemployment in India is not very high.

“4-5 percent unemployment rate is not very high. We have low income, low paying jobs and that’s the bigger problem,” he added.