SURAT/NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding a rise in the GDP growth levels to 6.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2017-18, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said it was still lower than UPA’s 10 year average.
Addressing traders and businessmen in Surat, senior Congress leader said,”there still remains considerable uncertainty over the growth of the GDP.
The RBI forecasts that growth in 2017-19 will pick up to 6.7 per cent. However, even if the growth picks up to 6.7 per cent in 2017-18, Modiji’s four year average growth rate will be only 7.1 per cent.
To equal the UPA’s ten year average, the economy will have to grow at 10.6 per cent in the fifth year . I would be happy if this were to happen but frankly I do not think it will.”
Attacking the NDA Government at the Centre on the issue of demonetisation and GST, the former Prime Minister termed it as a ‘double blow’ to the Indian economy which had broken the back of small and medium businesses in India.
Dr Singh said none of the objectives of demonetisation, including curbing counterfeit money, rooting out black money have been met. Describing November 8 as ‘Black day’ for the economy as well as for Indian democracy, Dr Singh said,”most of you trusted the Prime Minister and believed in the policy of demonetisation in the hope that your suffering would actually benefit India.
I salute your commitment to the cause of rooting out black money. But soon it emerged that corruption remained unabated. Those who had black money were able to convert it into white.”
While describing the Goods and Services Tax as a good idea that the Congress had initiated, Dr Singh, however, said the BJP government’s version was ‘poorly designed’, ‘badly implemented’ and ‘brought about in such a tearing hurry’.
Dr Singh said the hope that the businessmen of Surat had pinned on PM Modi’s promise of ‘acche din’ now lay shattered. ”In Surat alone, 89,000 looms have been sold to scrap.
This amounts to nearly 31,000 workers losing their jobs in one part of the textile sector alone,” he said. Terming demonetisation a drastic measure, Dr Singh said ,”it has been suggested many times in the past as a measure to eradicate black money.
But we, as a responsible government, never took such a drastic measure because in our reasoned analysis the costs of demonetisation always exceeded the benefits substantially.”
Pointing out that the demonetisaiton had led to a fall in imports, Dr Singh said,”China is benefiting from this blow to Indian Economy. In the first half of 2016-17, India’s imports from China have gone up unprecedented.” (AGENCIES)
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