Cong, Left greet GDP data with sceptism, Govt says no note ban effect

NEW DELHI: The strong GDP data despite note ban blues was on Wednesday met with sceptism by the Congress and the Left but the Government said it showed demonetisation did not hurt growth. Congress dubbed the Gross Domestic Product(gdp) numbers as "highly suspect" and "questionable" while the CPI-M and the CPI alleged that the growth rate has been "inflated" and "faked".

Seeking to prove wrong the prophets of doom post-note ban, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the latest GDP data showed demonetisation did not affect growth rate, rather the figure improved while Finance Minister asserted it belied exaggerated claims of the impact on rural economy.

Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said the GDP data was "surprising" and "highly suspect" that could dent India's global credibility and accused the prime minister and the finance minister of "misleading" the public.

Sharma said the GDP numbers released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) were "misleading" as these do not factor in the adverse impact of demonetisation, including losses in jobs and production. "The GDP numbers that have been released are surprising and highly suspect. The GDP growth as projected is questionable and will also undermine the crediblity of Indian data globally," he said. Asking the prime minister and the finance minister not to "mislead" the public and address the real issues instead, the senior Congress leader said the government "propagandists" should refrain from "premature celebrations and misplaced euphoria". Making light of the government data, the CPI-M said it is like "faking nationalism".

"It is like faking nationalism to faking data...if this growth rate is to be believed, then without the demonetisation disaster, what would have been the Q3 GDP growth rate? 25 percent?," said CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

CPI also raised doubts on the government data, calling it "inflated figure" "I doubt very much if it is possible (to have GDP growth rate at 7.1 percent post demonetisation). The real criteria to gauge development is the human development index. But given people's sufferings, particularly post-demonetisation, we are not buying the inflated figure," said CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy.