State of economy is deeply worrying, says Manmohan Singh

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the state of country's economy is deeply worrying.

In a statement made here on Sunday, the Rajya Sabha member said that the last quarter’s GDP growth rate of 5 per cent signals that the country is in the midst of a prolonged slowdown. "India has the potential to grow at a much faster rate, but all-round mismanagement by the Modi government has resulted in this slowdown," he said.

'Man-made blunders'

Singh said it is particularly distressing that the manufacturing sector’s growth is tottering at 0.6 per cent. "This makes it very clear that our economy has not yet recovered from the man-made blunders of demonetisation and a hastily implemented GST," he said.

He noted that domestic demand is depressed and consumption growth is at an 18-month low. "Nominal GDP growth is at a 15-year low. There is a gaping hole in tax revenues. Tax buoyancy remains elusive as businessmen, small and big, are hounded and tax terrorism continues unabated. Investor sentiments are in doldrums. These are not the foundations for economic recovery," he claimed.

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The veteran leader added that Modi government’s policies are resulting in massive job-less growth. "More than 3.5 lakh jobs have been lost in the automobile sector alone. There will similarly be large-scale job losses in the informal sector, hurting our most vulnerable workers," he said.

Rural India is in a terrible shape, Singh said. "Farmers are not receiving adequate prices and rural incomes have declined. The low inflation rate that the Modi government likes to showcase, comes at the cost of our farmers and their incomes, by inflicting misery on over 50 per cent of India’s population," he added.

'No plan'

Institutions are under attack and their autonomy is being eroded, the former Prime Minister said.

"The resilience of the RBI will be tested after its record transfer of ₹1.76 lakh crores to the government , which claims that it does not have a plan on what it will do with this windfall. In addition, the credibility of India’s data has come under question under this government," the statement said.

Also read:RBI’s huge surplus transfer, a bad idea

"Budget announcements and rollbacks have shaken the confidence of international investors. India has not been able to increase its exports to take advantage of opportunities that have arisen in global trade due to geopolitical realignments. Such is the state of economic management under the Modi government," it added.

"Our youth, farmers and farm workers, entrepreneurs and the marginalised sections deserve better," Singh said. "India cannot afford to continue down this path. Therefore, I urge the government to put aside vendetta politics, and reach out to all sane voices and thinking minds, to steer our economy out of this man-made crisis," he said.

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