Congress slams Modi government's financial package

Cong says government smug as polls 4 years away

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday(May 18) shredded Modi government’s financial package claiming that the actual financial outgo amounted to merely 0.91% of the GDP and it has left several sections “high and dry”.

Chidambaram, addressing a press conference through a video link, termed the financial package as “hopelessly inadequate” and a “thorough disappointment” and asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to reconsider it.

“We will plug this narrative that the actual fiscal stimulus package amounts to only Rs 1.86 lakh crore, which is 0.91% of the GDP. We will continue to press our point of view through our state units,” the senior Congress leader said.

Chidambaram also slammed the Modi government saying the package had fallen way short of expectations of the poor, vulnerable and migrants.

“I don’t think the government is concerned about the poorest of the poor. This is an elitist government largely guided by the privileged sections...this government is complacent and smug because elections are four years away,” he said.

Chidambaram also accused the Modi government of being opportunistic in pushing reforms by sidestepping Parliament.

He said Congress has also decided to start political action to compare the promises made by the Centre and its delivery, to put pressure on the Centre so that parliamentary scrutiny of the package could be done at the department related standing committees.

“How can they announce this bogus Rs 20 lakh crore package and use institutions to propagate this number without calling the Parliamentary committee to scrutinise this number," he said.

“They say they will use Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to build low-cost housing for migrant workers. Do they have Alladin’s lamp, that you rub the lamp and low-cost housing comes up overnight,” Chidambaram said.

The former Finance Minister said there can be no fiscal stimulus package without additional expenditure over and above the budgeted expenditure.

“We note that the Finance Minister acknowledged that Additional Expenditure must be financed by Additional Borrowing. The true value of the fiscal stimulus package will, therefore, be known when we know what is the Additional Borrowing in 2020-21 to finance the Additional Expenditure over and above the Expenditure Budget of Rs 30,42,230 crore. The truth cannot be hidden for long,” Chidambaram said.