Consumer spending surveys help set the base year for key macroeconomic data, including gross domestic product.
New Delhi: More than a month after National Statistical Commission (NSC) chairman Bimal Kumar Roy said the official survey report showing a dip in consumer spending for the first time in over four decades would be made public, the autonomous data body decided against releasing the report.
When asked why the NSC departed from its earlier view, Roy said: “I did try. I made a proposal (in an NSC meeting on January 15) to release the survey but I didn’t find support. I did put in the proposal as chairman but it didn’t get through. I cannot say anything more now.” A source said chief statistician Pravin Srivastava objected to the release of the survey data in the NSC meeting. However, one NSC member raised objections and pressed for the data to be made public. The person’s views weren’t incorporated in the minutes of the meeting circulated among the members, a person aware of the development said. “This raises eyebrows on the manner in which the discussions were conducted within the NSC,” the source said.
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