FM says no recession in Indian economy, Congress slams govt

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Wednesday said the Indian economy may have slowed down but there is no threat of a “recession”.

Replying to a discussion on the economic situation in the country in Rajya Sabha, she said: "Economic growth may have slowed but there is no recession, there can be no recession.”

The Finance Minister’s claim came despite a number of economists and experts asserting that the country’s economy was passing through a recession and no recovery is in sight as of now.

The core sectors are showing dismal growth while the unemployment is all time high. The Narendra Modi government has also been hiding the uncomfortable official data.

In an unprecedented measure, the Modi government in August this year dug into the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) contingency fund and withdrew 1.76 lakh crore rupees from it to meet the fiscal deficit and revenue shortfall.

The Congress on Wednesday attacked the government over the state of the economy, saying it is time for the Modi dispensation to wake up, take note of "real statistics" and act to fix the problem.

Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda alleged that there is an agrarian distress but the government will ensure that no data comes out.

"Rural India has been driven into a hole by the Modi government. The people benefitted from Minimum Support Price (MSP) under the UPA government but it has fallen under the Modi government," he claimed.

"The measures that are being taken are not resolving anything. A lot more trouble is on its way, monthly GST targets have not been met in 2019, it will result in a bigger fiscal deficit. Despite taking money from RBI they will not be able to meet their budget targets," Gowda said.