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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | The case for a rural stimulus -Himanshu

The case for a rural stimulus -Himanshu

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published Published on Oct 13, 2017   modified Modified on Oct 13, 2017
-Livemint.com

It is clear that not only has the govt failed to do anything to revive the sagging rural demand, it has also refused to acknowledge the demand problem

The fact that the economy is on a downward slide is no longer a matter of debate. It is neither a technical issue nor is it a transient blip which will go away on its own. However, matters are complicated as far as the reasons for the slide are concerned. The real debate is whether it is due to the structural issues leading to a supply shock or it is due to demand deflation in the economy. Any effort at recovery will depend on the correct diagnosis of the problem. Although demonetisation and unpreparedness of the government for the goods and service tax (GST) roll-out contributed to the deceleration in growth rates, the symptoms have been evident for much longer.

In all likelihood the supply issues are not irrelevant, more so after the implementation of GST. The evidence on this based on increasing imports is, however, weak. Although demonetisation and GST have aggravated the supply-side issues, the slowdown started earlier. The economic recovery after 2012-13 had started in 2013-14 and continued until 2015-16, aided by the windfall gain from the decline in petroleum prices. It started declining from the fourth quarter of 2015-16, much before demonetisation and GST had taken place.

The obsession with supply-side issues overlooks the demand-side factors which were showing signs of weakening since 2014-15 itself. A large part of this was driven by what was happening in the rural economy. Wage growth had slumped by the end of 2013. Fertilizer consumption had started declining much before 2014. Growth in agricultural incomes was already decelerating. Construction sector had collapsed. These were clear signs of stress in the rural economy. The rural distress caused by a decline in commodity prices and the drought of 2014 contributed to the worsening of an already fragile rural economy.

It was on the basis of these that I had argued for the need for a rural stimulus (February 2015). The government was also flush with windfall gains from the petroleum price collapse. The government could have acted to stem the crisis in the rural economy. The 2015 drought aggravated the crisis in the rural economy, which was already suffering from depressed incomes. Not only was it ignored, it was allowed to spill over to other sectors of the rural economy, particularly in construction and rural non-farm. The unrest in the rural economy had already spilled over into the Jat, Patel and Maratha agitation, much of it in response to growing joblessness and declining farm profits. This was evident in early 2016, again much before the demonetisation exercise. However, the good monsoon of 2016 did revive hopes for a recovery, which was visible in revival of wage growth and increase in agricultural production. But even this was short-lived with demonetisation taking away the gains of good agricultural production. Since then, it has been a continuous downward slide.

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Livemint.com, 11 October, 2017, http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ndv5pRFKgXQvF4y01LPDnJ/Case-for-a-rural-stimulus.html


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