Price rise

on price rise was nothing but a “zero” and expectedly, a denial that a problem exists.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Centre had agreed to hold the debate on price rise only after pressure from the Opposition.

“After two weeks of obstinacy and cussedness, and because of sustained Opposition pressure, Modi Sarkar agreed to debate price rise in LS today.

“FM’s reply was as expected a denial that a problem exists. Households across the country will disagree with her. Tomorrow debate in Rajya Sabha,” Ramesh wrote on Twitter.

Later talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, Congress member Manish Tewari, who initiated the debate, said that as per the government, “no inflation exists like no one killed Jessica. Everything is hunky-dory, that is your (government) response to the concerns raised by the Opposition”.

He also said the minister’s response was arrogant.

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also expressed his dissatisfaction with the debate. “The prices are rising, people are facing issues, but they (govt) don’t care. They boast of giving away money to other countries, help them. If you can pay those in another country, why not do it for our own people.”

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said,“The government wasted 10 days & ₹150 crore to hold the discussion of price rise and say that there is no inflation in the country but after demonetization, covid lockdowns, people are facing great issues.”

Earlier, Sitharaman asserted in the Lok Sabha that India does not face any risk of either recession or stagflation as its macroeconomic fundamentals are “perfect”. In nearly two-hour long reply to a debate on price rise, she said India continues to be a fast-growing economy in the world quoting reports of global agencies.

Sitharaman said that India is doing better than its peers and “there is no question of India getting into recession or stagflation ... there is no question of us getting into stagflation or like the US a technical recession.”

The GDP of the US fell 0.9 per cent in the second quarter, following a 1.6 per cent decline in the first quarter, marking the start of what they call an unofficial recession.

She further said, “A Bloomberg survey which was done by economists says there is zero probability of India slipping into recession, so it is not just me saying. There is zero probability of India slipping into recession even though there are several major economies who are in substantial risky position of getting into recession.”

On the macroeconomic fundamentals of the country, the Finance Minister said that the country’s debtto-GDP ratio is better than many developed nations, including Japan, and the GST collection has touched the second-highest since its rollout in July.

Gross NPAs of scheduled commercial banks have reached a six-year low of 5.9 per cent, she said, adding that government debt to GDP ratio has come down to 56.29 per cent in FY22.

Acknowledging that the country faces inflationary pressure, the Finance Minister said that the government has been able to contain it below 7 per cent despite problems like COVID-19 and Omicron.

Efforts are being made to bring down retail inflation below 7 per cent, the minister said.

Prices of edible oils have corrected sharply following steps taken by the government, she added.

During the UPA government she said, “Retail inflation was more than 9 per cent in 22 months and inflation crossed double digit 9 times during UPA regime time...We will bring inflation below 7 per cent and inflation is coming down below inflation 7 per cent.”

Sitharaman countered repeated opposition’s criticism that Modi government has increased GST on essential items, saying it was an unanimous decision of GST Council comprising of State Finance Minister and Union Finance Minister.

The decison was unanimous and there was no difference of opinion on raising rate, she said, adding it was done to plug leakages.

The finance minister said that the GST compensation to states till May 2022 has been paid and only June month’s dues are pending.

With regard to issuance of Rs 1.48 lakh crore oil bonds by the UPA regime, Sitharaman said, it was principally wrong and the burden of interest payment and principal repayment were transferred to the future generation.

“Taxpayers of today are paying for subsidy dished out to consumers more than a decade ago in the name of oil bonds. And they will continue to pay for the next five years as the redemption of bonds continues till 2026,” she said.

On forex reserves, she said India has sufficient reserves and economic fundamentals are perfect.