Economy in fine fettle, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Seeking to prove that the economy was in fine fettle, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday denied her government had failed to create jobs or put a lid on price rise.

Replying to the debate on the Union Budget in the Rajya Sabha, she reeled out numbers to prove the economic slump was out of its way but her combative style provoked a constant reaction from the Opposition benches and a reminder that lawmakers were sitting in Parliament and not in “primary school”. “There are seven important indicators which show that there are green shoots in the economy... it is not in trouble,” she said in both Houses.Among the green shoots, she counted were industrial production turning positive, inflation being under control, foreign exchange reserves reaching an all-time high and an upbeat stock market.

Sitharaman also listed steps that the government has taken so far to boost investment and sought to give data to prove that jobs were being created in the country contrary to Opposition allegations.

In the Rajya Sabha, Sitharman’s reply was mainly targeted at former finance minister P Chidambaram for his ‘incompetent doctors’ comment, saying she did not want to learn from the “competent doctors” who gave “faulty remedies” and under whom FDI literally ran away and “cronies” fled the country after defaulting on bank loans.

“Strange behaviour of FM who declined, or was unable, to answer a question of Mr Anand Sharma in the RS today. The clarification was sought on four numbers that are on the first page of Budget at a Glance,” former Finance Minister P Chidambaram replied on Twitter.