Union Minister Anurag Thakur retaliates against Chidambaram; says economy will rebound thanks to reforms
NEW DELHI: Speaking to former Finance Minister P Chidambaram for his comments on the economy, Finance Minister of State Anurag Thakur on Wednesday said India’s growth would rebound thanks to coherent reforms and strong fundamentals .
Thakur also regretted that “the leaderless Congress was behaving like an ostrich reading economic data”.
“The Indian economy is resilient and will rebound in times to come on the basis of coherent reforms that have guaranteed strong fundamentals in these difficult times.
“I’m not surprised that the former finance minister chose to ignore the hard data and instead went for ‘what’s up’ – the leadership of Congress has embodied this clueless approach over the years,” said the Minister of Finance. Union Minister in a press release.
Coherent reforms and strong fundamentals enabled India to rebound quickly from a contraction of 24.4% in the first quarter to growth of 1.6% in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020-21, a he pointed out.
On Tuesday, Chidambaram called fiscal year 2020/21 “the darkest year for the economy in four decades” and said record negative growth has left “most Indians poorer than two years ago. “.
Chidambaram had criticized the government for misleading the population, a reference to the finance ministry’s “green shoots†allegations in July last year after the peak of the first wave and also for mismanaging the country’s finances .
India’s economy – which was in a slowdown even before the pandemic broke last year – contracted 7.3% in the fiscal year April 2020 to March 2021 (FY21), weighed down by the national lockdown which has clubbed consumption and interrupted most economic activities.
This is the first full-year contraction of the Indian economy in the past four decades since 1979-80, when GDP fell 5.2 percent.
However, the performance was better compared to the 8% contraction predicted in Economic Survey 2020-21.
On the question of the gloomy predictions made by the former finance minister, Thakur said: “While you doubt the resilience of Indian entrepreneurs, small businesses, traders and MSMEs to revive, various international agencies predict that the India will experience growth of 12.5% ​​during the year. 2021-2022, making India the only major economy with projected double-digit growth.
“Is the Indian economy an isolated island? Have other major economies not experienced a contraction in GDP? Didn’t you know that France, Germany, Italy and the UK contracted by 8.2%, 4.9%, 8.9% and 9.9%, respectively â€, said Thakur.
He also noted that Canada, Russia, South Africa and the United States have also experienced a contraction in their GDP over the past year and that despite the disruptions of globalization, India has remained resilient.
Further, the minister urged Chidambaram to shift gears from his prediction of gloom and end of the world and stressed that lockdown saves lives while gradual unlock allows green shoots.
On the issue of cash transfers to the poor and farmers, Thakur said that during the NDA term (2014-19), the government disbursed Rs 8 lakh crore for the purchase of wheat and rice compared to 3.74 Rs lakh crore during the PAU tenure (2009 -14).
The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi bought 74 times more pulses from the MSP (Minimum Support Price) than those purchased during the 2009-14 PAU tenure, the minister said.
He also noted that the NDA government purchased 306.9 million tonnes of paddy and 162.7 million tonnes of wheat in the past five years compared to 2009-13 during the UPA’s tenure, where only 176 , 8 million tonnes of paddy and 139.5 million tonnes of wheat were purchased.
By opening 42 crore of Jan Dhan accounts, the Modi government has put an end to the leaks in the system by ensuring that each rupee reaches its intended beneficiary quickly and even during the Covid pandemic, through direct bank transfer (DBT) , it has provided financial support in the millions of dollars, Thakur said.
He reminded the former Minister of Finance that DBT was also granted under the NSAP (National Social Assistance Program) to widows, divyangs, the elderly, building and construction workers as well as to PM-KISAN for farmers and contribute 24 percent. at EPFO ​​and Ujjwala.
Noting that the total transfers exceed Rs 68,000 crore, Thakur wondered if it was not “cash in hand”.
While the UPA government during your tenure (Chidambaram) as finance minister disbursed bad loans, Thakur said, Modi’s government provided a government guarantee of Rs 3 lakh crore through the ECLGS program to the industry to support and revive their businesses.
Over 2.65 lakh crore has been sanctioned by public and private sector banks and NBFCs on over 92 lakh accounts as part of “Cash Flow for Business” under the Line of Credit Guarantee Program (ECLGS), he added.
Thakur also regretted that “the leaderless Congress was behaving like an ostrich reading economic data”.
“The Indian economy is resilient and will rebound in times to come on the basis of coherent reforms that have guaranteed strong fundamentals in these difficult times.
“I’m not surprised that the former finance minister chose to ignore the hard data and instead went for ‘what’s up’ – the leadership of Congress has embodied this clueless approach over the years,” said the Minister of Finance. Union Minister in a press release.
Coherent reforms and strong fundamentals enabled India to rebound quickly from a contraction of 24.4% in the first quarter to growth of 1.6% in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020-21, a he pointed out.
On Tuesday, Chidambaram called fiscal year 2020/21 “the darkest year for the economy in four decades” and said record negative growth has left “most Indians poorer than two years ago. “.
Chidambaram had criticized the government for misleading the population, a reference to the finance ministry’s “green shoots†allegations in July last year after the peak of the first wave and also for mismanaging the country’s finances .
India’s economy – which was in a slowdown even before the pandemic broke last year – contracted 7.3% in the fiscal year April 2020 to March 2021 (FY21), weighed down by the national lockdown which has clubbed consumption and interrupted most economic activities.
This is the first full-year contraction of the Indian economy in the past four decades since 1979-80, when GDP fell 5.2 percent.
However, the performance was better compared to the 8% contraction predicted in Economic Survey 2020-21.
On the question of the gloomy predictions made by the former finance minister, Thakur said: “While you doubt the resilience of Indian entrepreneurs, small businesses, traders and MSMEs to revive, various international agencies predict that the India will experience growth of 12.5% ​​during the year. 2021-2022, making India the only major economy with projected double-digit growth.
“Is the Indian economy an isolated island? Have other major economies not experienced a contraction in GDP? Didn’t you know that France, Germany, Italy and the UK contracted by 8.2%, 4.9%, 8.9% and 9.9%, respectively â€, said Thakur.
He also noted that Canada, Russia, South Africa and the United States have also experienced a contraction in their GDP over the past year and that despite the disruptions of globalization, India has remained resilient.
Further, the minister urged Chidambaram to shift gears from his prediction of gloom and end of the world and stressed that lockdown saves lives while gradual unlock allows green shoots.
On the issue of cash transfers to the poor and farmers, Thakur said that during the NDA term (2014-19), the government disbursed Rs 8 lakh crore for the purchase of wheat and rice compared to 3.74 Rs lakh crore during the PAU tenure (2009 -14).
The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi bought 74 times more pulses from the MSP (Minimum Support Price) than those purchased during the 2009-14 PAU tenure, the minister said.
He also noted that the NDA government purchased 306.9 million tonnes of paddy and 162.7 million tonnes of wheat in the past five years compared to 2009-13 during the UPA’s tenure, where only 176 , 8 million tonnes of paddy and 139.5 million tonnes of wheat were purchased.
By opening 42 crore of Jan Dhan accounts, the Modi government has put an end to the leaks in the system by ensuring that each rupee reaches its intended beneficiary quickly and even during the Covid pandemic, through direct bank transfer (DBT) , it has provided financial support in the millions of dollars, Thakur said.
He reminded the former Minister of Finance that DBT was also granted under the NSAP (National Social Assistance Program) to widows, divyangs, the elderly, building and construction workers as well as to PM-KISAN for farmers and contribute 24 percent. at EPFO ​​and Ujjwala.
Noting that the total transfers exceed Rs 68,000 crore, Thakur wondered if it was not “cash in hand”.
While the UPA government during your tenure (Chidambaram) as finance minister disbursed bad loans, Thakur said, Modi’s government provided a government guarantee of Rs 3 lakh crore through the ECLGS program to the industry to support and revive their businesses.
Over 2.65 lakh crore has been sanctioned by public and private sector banks and NBFCs on over 92 lakh accounts as part of “Cash Flow for Business” under the Line of Credit Guarantee Program (ECLGS), he added.
