This is not the first time there has been controversy around the release of official data.
On July 1, the Ministry of Finance marked seven years of the shift to the Goods and Services Tax regime. About the same time, the government reportedly decided to discontinue the practice of publishing detailed GST data on a regular basis. This is an unwelcome departure from the past. The monthly GST data, which contains information on gross tax collections, revenue from levy of the compensation cess as well as the state-wise tax collected, serves several purposes. As data on many other economic indicators tends to be released with a considerable lag, the GST data works as a timely barometer to gauge the state of the economy. For instance, the quarterly GDP data comes with a delay of two months — data for the first quarter of the ongoing year (April-June) will only be released at the end of August. Similarly, data on industrial production is also published with a lag — data for April was published on June 12. The GST data also provides an indication of whether the government (it includes both Centre and state collections) is on track to meet its budgeted revenue projections, and as a consequence its fiscal deficit target. This has implications for its market borrowings.
This is not the first time there has been controversy around the release of official data. For instance, the 2017-18 consumption expenditure survey was not released by the government due to “quality issues”. There was a sharp debate over the employment and unemployment survey of 2017-18. However, over the years, the government has taken steps to address the concerns raised over the growing gaps in data, and strengthened the statistical system. The employment surveys have been carried out and released at regular intervals. The fact sheet on the latest round of the household consumption expenditure survey was put in the public domain before the general elections. And recently, the government has released a fact sheet on the two rounds of the annual survey of unincorporated sector enterprises that provides information on how the informal sector has fared during 2021-22 and 2022-23.
The government should strive to maintain data transparency, it should resume the practice of releasing granular GST data at regular intervals. Alongside, it must move quickly for conduct of the much delayed census. While in the initial years of the decade, the delay on account of the pandemic was understandable, three years later, it is difficult to justify the continued stalling. This is more so since several official surveys have been carried out and released during this period. Considering that data, whether on household consumption expenditure, employment or tax, provides an understanding of various facets of the economy, the absence of data has critical implications for policy.
