The Hindu Business Line : Finance Minister refutes BJP resolution on economy

During the rule of the BJP/NDA, crude oil prices a barrel ranged from $22-28. How I wish that the UPA Government had enjoyed such benign crude oil prices. – Mr P. Chidambaram

Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram

Our Bureau

New Delhi, June 6 The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Friday dismissed the BJP national executive’s resolution on prices and the economy, stating that it was an “exercise in self-deception” and aimed at spreading “disinformation”.

In a statement issued here, Mr Chidambaram gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the cardinal economic issues set out in the BJP national executive’s resolution and contrasted the economic performance of the UPA with that of the NDA Government, in which BJP was the main constituent.

Defending the emphasis of the UPA government on inclusive growth, Mr Chidambaram said that prudent fiscal management and robust revenue collections have enabled the UPA government to take up programmes that were “beyond the comprehension and capacity of the BJP/NDA”.

Reeling out a raft of queries, Mr Chidambaram asked “Why did the BJP/NDA not conceive of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme? Why was the BJP/NDA parsimonious in increasing the MSP for paddy and wheat? Why did the BJP/NDA not bring succour to the farmers through a debt waiver and debt relief scheme? Why did the BJP/NDA not introduce any measure of social security for workers in the unorganised sector?”

He said that the answer was simple since “the BJP/NDA government did not have the vision or the compassion or the fiscal space or the financial resources to undertake schemes and programmes that would directly benefit the poor and make the growth inclusive”.

The Finance Minister also noted that the average growth in GDP for the four years of UPA government was 8.9 per cent, which was a good 3 percentage points more than the average for NDA’s six-year period.

Inflation bug

Admitting that inflation was ‘a bugbear’ for the UPA government, Mr Chidambaram pointed out that it was a problem under the BJP/NDA government too.

“During the entire six-year rule of the BJP/NDA, crude oil prices a barrel ranged from $22-28. How I wish that the UPA Government had enjoyed such benign crude oil prices? We have not been fortunate. The average price of the Indian basket in 2007-08 was $79 and, since March 2008, the average price had increased to $99. On May 22, 2008, the crude oil prices touched an all time high of $130 a barrel. All countries of the world, including India, are victims of high crude oil prices,” he said.

The Finance Minister said that the current inflation was almost entirely due to the relentless rise in crude oil prices. The rise has also triggered the rise in commodity prices and because bio-diesel is produced from food items such as maize, sugarcane and palm oil, the food prices have also come under pressure.

Mr Chidambaram felt that criticising the Government on the ground of inflation without going into causes of the current inflationary trends and without offering any concrete solutions would amount to merely politicising the issue.

“BJP/NDA is, of course, in the opposition, but that does not mean its duty to the people is only to oppose the Government.

I may point out that we have not heard of any concrete suggestion made by BJP/NDA that, if implemented, would help in moderating inflation,” he said.

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