Hours after the Modi government presented its first Economic Survey on Thursday after being re-elected to power, former finance minister P Chidambaram said that it appeared that the central government, speaking through the Economic Survey, was pessimistic about the economy.
In a statement, he said there are no growth projections sector wise in the first survey of the new government and the first under the new finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“The first sentence of Volume-1. Chapter 01 is self-congratulatory. (‘During the past five years, India’s economy has performed well’). I looked for the Outlook for 2019-20. It is in Volume-2, Chapter 01, but there is only a bland statement that “growth of the economy expected to be 7 per cent in 2019-20,” Chidambaram said.
Statement of P. Chidambaram pic.twitter.com/eGeYYEAuTS
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) July 4, 2019
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The senior Congress leader also said the closes in terms of describing the outlook for 2019-20 can be found in Volume-2, Chapter 2. The Economic Survey flags slow growth, shortfall in revenue, finding resources without compromising the fiscal deficit target, impact of oil prices on the current account and recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission on central government finances.
“I am afraid none of these is positive or encouraging,” he added.