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‘Expert on stealing’: Nirmala Sitharaman on Rahul Gandhi’s dig at RBI windfall jibe
On Monday, after its board meeting, the RBI said it will transfer ₹1.76 lakh crore to the government this fiscal.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for alleging that the Centre was stealing from the Reserve Bank of India for masking the “self created economic disaster”. The FM said the Congress leader tried very hard in the past to throw mud using terms like “chor, chor, chori”. On Monday, after its board meeting, the RBI said it will transfer ₹1.76 lakh crore to the government this fiscal.
“He tried very hard in the past using chor, chor, chori. But the public gave him a sateek jawab (right answer). But he still insists on using the term. He should at least consult senior leaders in the Congress party who have been ministers in the past before speaking on such matters,” said Sitharaman.
“He is an expert on the subject of stealing. Thus, I pay no great attention to his comments,” added Sitharaman
Watch| ‘He’s an expert on subject of stealing’: Sitharaman hits back at Rahul’s chor jibe
Rahul Gandhi had tweeted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are clueless about how to solve “self created economic disaster” and that the borrowing from the RBI won’t help. “Stealing from RBI won’t work - it’s like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary & sticking it on a gunshot wound,” he had said.
The RBI’s surplus transfer was finalised in line with the recommendations of the committee under former RBI governor Bimal Jalan. RBI’s central board accepted all the recommendations of the committee.
Sitharaman said questioning RBI’s is a “worrying sign”. “Any suggestion on the credibility of RBI seems a bit outlandish considering the (Bimal Jalan) committee was appointed by the RBI itself,” she said, adding the government has not decided how to use the windfall from the RBI.
Also read: How the ₹1.76 lakh crore windfall from RBI may help boost Indian economy
The RBI transfer includes ₹1.23 lakh crore of surplus for FY19 and ₹52,637 crore of excess provisions identified as per the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF) adopted at the meeting, RBI said in a statement on Monday. The higher surplus is due to the long-term forex swaps and the open market operations (OMO) conducted by the central bank over the last fiscal.
The windfall from India’s central bank is higher than the aggregate dividend paid out by it in previous three years. The ₹1.76 lakh crore is expected to help the government spur the economy and fight a slowdown.
Last week, Nirmala Sitharaman announced several measures aimed at helping the economy battle a slowdown. Her measures included a ₹71,500 crore liquidity lifeline for banks and doing away an extra levy on equity sales that worried foreign investors.
Weak consumer spending has hit demand in many sectors but the auto industry has been the worst hit. Car sales continued to plunge in July for the ninth month running with job losses across automobile majors.
