Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today took a dig at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over his remark on demonetisation, saying there is no indication as to what makes him convinced that its effect will be temporary and not affect the growth of the economy.
Singh, also a noted economist, however, kept his judgement of the Union Budget reserved, saying it has far too many items and it is very difficult to react to the impact. “There is no indication as to what makes the Finance Minister convinced that demonetization effect will be temporary and it will not affect the growth of the economy,” Singh said.
ALSO READ: This is what happened when Arnab Goswami met Anupam Kher
“There were far too many items in the budget. It is very difficult to immediately react to the impact of this budget,” Singh said. Asked whether the focus of the budget was right, he said, “(As for focus) plan-non-plan distinction is gone. In its place, revenue and capital have been introduced. One needs to see how will it impact on the economy,” he said.
Terming the budget as “contractionary” and a “complete gimmick”, the Left parties alleged that the figures given by the Finance Minister do not match the reality.