Use of big data should be key in policy making: Arvind Subramanian

New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian has said the use of big data in the Economic Survey 2016-17 has helped break some existing myths related to internal trade and connectivity and should be utilised actively in policy making.

"The Economic Survey 2016-17 has been able to utilise big data for aggregating trends related to movement of people and goods in the country. These trends have contributed to key policy suggestions in themes like domestic migration, trade, economy, universal basic income etc.," Subramanian said on Wednesday, according to a statement released on Thursday.

He was speaking at the 'CUTS Thought Leadership Lecture' organised by Consumer Unity and Trust Society in partnership with University of Rajasthan.

On trade, India has caught up and surpassed China in terms of internal trade to GDP ratio, a significant achievement for which India is not always acknowledged, he said.

Subramanian noted that it is still too early to ascertain the impact of demonetisation on the economy.

"The formal GDP numbers do not fully capture the impact on informal economy and some more time is needed to assess impact of demonetisation on the economy," he said.

He gave three parameters on which demonetisation can probably be measured - the increase in number and amount of tax payers, the growth of GDP and the rapid progression of the digital economy.

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