Economy is weak, needs bold, structural reforms: Chidambaram

| | New Delhi
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Economy is weak, needs bold, structural reforms: Chidambaram

Friday, 12 July 2019 | PTI | New Delhi

The Union Budget 2019-20 does not chalk out a clear roadmap to take India on the path of high economic growth and lacks bold steps and structural reforms, Congress leader P Chidambaram said Thursday in Rajya Sabha.

Participating in the debate on the Budget, the former Finance Minister said the country’s economy is weak and requires bold steps to take it forward on fast growth track, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take.

He also termed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech as “insipid” and said the budget does not have any steps to propel investment and savings.

Chidambaram downplayed the Modi Government’s call of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, saying the economy itself doubles due to the “magic of compounding” in six to seven years and does not require a prime minister or finance minister.

He sought to corner the Finance Minister, saying she did not present macro economic data, including receipts from revenue, in her Budget Speech in Lok Sabha on July 5.

Chidambaram said the Finance Minister should have mentioned figures in her speech as people deserve to know broad numbers as they do not go through annexures and other Budget documents.

“I cannot recall a Budget Speech so bereft of macro data,” he said, and urged the Finance Ministry to ensure important data gets mention in the Budget Speech in future.

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