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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Why NITI Aayog and EAC-PM should produce reports on where the Indian economy is headed

The EAC-PM and a new-look NITI Aayog can supplement the efforts of the RBI and the finance ministry in improving our understanding of the Indian economy and offering policy prescriptions.

Till a few years ago, an internationally acclaimed information technology company was known for its tactful management of its periodic profit guidance. In the normal course of announcing its quarterly results, the company would present a profit growth number for the coming quarters. A retrospective analysis showed that its guidance number for profit growth in the upcoming quarters invariably turned out to be slightly lower than the actual performance that was eventually announced.

Many experts interpreted this as a classic case of managing expectations and springing a positive surprise. The stock market and analysts would marvel at the company’s ability to exceed its guidance. Over time, this was also described as that company’s deliberate guidance management policy.

Should the government’s think tank and the Prime Minister’s advisory body also follow this principle of providing guidance on the Indian economy’s growth and inflation trajectory? Of course, there should be no need to follow the kind of guidance management policy that the company in question might have adopted. But more analyses and forecasts on how the Indian economy is going to fare can surely be of immense help. Not only markets, but even the government’s policymakers would benefit from such early assessments.

At present, such guidance comes principally from the Reserve Bank........

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