Congress attacks survey, says govt seems pessimistic about economy

“It appears to me that the government, speaking through the Economic Survey, is pessimistic about the economy,” he said soon after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the survey in Parliament.

In an attack on the Economic Survey released on Thursday, senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram said the government seems to be “pessimistic” about the economy.

The government has projected India’s real GDP growth for 2019-20 at 7% on the back of anticipated pickup in the growth of investment and consumption. (HT Photo)

“It appears to me that the government, speaking through the Economic Survey, is pessimistic about the economy,” he said soon after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the survey in Parliament.

“The Economic Survey 2018-19 is the first of the new government and the first under the new Finance Minister, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman. The first sentence of Volume-1, Chapter 01 is self-congratulatory (“During the last 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 in a statement. He added that there were no sector wise growth projections. “The closest in terms of describing the outlook for 2019-20 can be found in Volume-2, Chapter 02. The Economic Survey flags (1) slowing growth, (2) shortfall in revenue, (3) finding resources without compromising the fiscal deficit target, (4) impact of oil prices on the current account and (5) recommendations of the Fifteenth FC on central government finances. I am afraid, none of these is positive or encouraging.”

“The political stability in the country should push the animal spirits of the economy, while the higher capacity utilization and uptick in business expectations should increase investment activity,” said the Survey.