Come up with something creative, PC tells BJP
Finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday said BJP’s “resolution on prices” was an exercise in self deception aimed at spreading disinformation.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: Finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday said BJP���s ���resolution on prices��� was an exercise in self deception aimed at spreading disinformation.
Refuting the claims made by the party in the resolution that was adopted at its national executive, he said the UPA government had scored on all counts ��� growth, fiscal management, savings and investment, food grain output and inclusiveness despite facing the brunt of high global crude prices.
However, he admitted that inflation is a problem and said the government was willing to take more measures to contain it.
���The current inflation is almost entirely due to relentless rise in crude oil prices. This rise has also triggered the rise in commodity prices and, because bio-diesel is produced from food items like maize, sugarcane and palm oil, food prices have also come under pressure. The government of India, like governments all over the world is fighting inflation,��� he said.
He pointed that the inflation was a problem even under the BJP/NDA government. ���In 2000-01, 48 out of 52 weeks, the WPI was over 6%; in 22 of those weeks it was 7%; and in 12 of those weeks, it was over 8% ... During the entire six-year rule of the NDA, crude oil prices per barrel ranged from $22 to $28. How I wished that the UPA government had enjoyed such benign crude oil prices,��� he said.
Noting that the NDA was of course Opposition, he said it did not mean that its duty to the people was only to oppose the government. ���I may point out that we have not heard of any concrete suggestion made by the BJP/NDA that, if implemented would help in moderating inflation,��� he said adding that the UPA government is confident that it will, with the understanding and support of people, overcome the current difficulties and ensure, in the medium to long-term, robust and inclusive growth with price stability.
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He said the UPA government has overhauled the moribund manufacturing sector the NDA left behind and the increased business confidence is reflected in the investments made by both domestic and foreign investors. ���Even in the agriculture sector, the average growth rate in the four years of the UPA government has been 3.55%. Specifically, in the production of foods grains, output has increased by about 10 million tonnes every year,��� he said. ���Thanks to the UPA government���s management, the economy had recorded an unprecedented high rate of growth, the average for the four years being 8.9%. This is a good 300 basis points more than the average for the NDA���s six year period,��� he said in a statement.
The statement highlighted that the average growth rate under the NDA government was only 5.8%, with two of the six years witnessing an abysmally low growth rate of 4.4% (2000-01) and 3.8 %(2002-03).
The savings to GDP ratio also increased from 29.8% in 2003-04 to 34.0% in 2006-07 on the back of robust growth of the economy, he said adding that the investment to the GDP ratio also rose from 28.2% in 2003-04 to 35.9% in 2006-07.
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Sound management of the economy is also reflected in better collection of taxes and curtailment of wasteful expenditure. ���One of the most important aspects of the UPA government has been its commitment to strengthening the economic fundamentals...Inheriting a fiscal deficit of 4.%, it has been brought down to 2.8 % in 2007-08. Likewise, inheriting a revenue deficit of 3.6%, it has been brought down to 1.2% in 2007-08,��� he said. The prudent fiscal management and robust revenue collections enabled the UPA government to take up programmes that were ���beyond the comprehension and the capacity of the BJP/NDA. ���Why did the BJP/NDA not conceive of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme? Why was BJP/NDA parsimonious in increasing the MSP for paddy and wheat?,��� the five-paged statement pointed.
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