Cong slams govt on economy, says move beyond ‘piecemeal approach’

NEW DELHI: Expressing the concern over the present state of the country's economy, the Congress on Monday accused the Centre of creating a trust deficit because of which the people are not taking credits, eventually leading to slowdown. While talking to reporters, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said that in the last one year, the fund flow to the commercial sector is down by 88 per cent.

Citing the findings of an RBI report, the party claimed that 88 per cent drop has been witnessed in credit to commercial sectors, while 5 per cent growth rate as claimed is not in matching with the drop in credit, implicitly questioning the authenticity of the government data.

“If you have a fever and you go to a doctor, but the doctor is not ready to accept that you are suffering from fever, then how he will treat you. It seems that this government is confused. It is almost like Alice in wonderland. They do not know what to do with the economy. That is why we see the collateral damage happening,” the Congress leader Shrinate said.

“No investment, no consumption, no credit off-take. It is a very vicious cycle,” Shrinate said, adding that the government claims that there is 5 per cent growth, but with 88 per cent drop in credit it does look realistic.

In simple terms, the economy says that when credit is taken, investment is made and jobs are created and thus growth takes place,” the Congress leader said, adding, “But people are not taking credit as they don't believe that if they take loans, then they would be able to repay it. Most of the employees are not sure whether their jobs will remain or not.”

“There is a data which has been reported and it is rather worrying because it once again points to the direction of a very acute economic slowdown. We, at the Congress party, don't laud it, we don't celebrate it, but yes as a responsible opposition party, we would like this data to be mulled upon. We would like people to understand the importance of this data,” she said.

“Further, the demand is low. The government is continuing with its piecemeal approach and does not have a comprehensive solution to the economic mess. The fault lines are vivid ion the Indian economy,” she said. In reply to a question, she said, “Bangladesh is performing much better than us. The better export figures of Bangladesh indicate the growth rate of the neighbouring country is better than us. We are even not able to take benefit of the ongoing trade war between the US and China.”

Supriya Shrinate said in the last one year, the fund flow to the commercial sector is down by 88 per cent