Union budget is remarkable in length, but unremarkable in content: Manpreet Badal

Union budget is remarkable in length, but unremarkable in content: Manpreet Badal

Terms Union Finance Minister’s projection of nominal GDP growth rate of 10 percent ludicrous

Nabaz-e-Punjab Bureau, Chandigarh, February 1:
The Union budget-2020, was remarkable in its length, but unremarkable in its content,” said Punjab Finance and Planning Minister Mr Manpreet Singh Badal.
Expressing concern at the “unreliable numbers”, Mr Badal said that the Union Finance Minister’s projection of nominal GDP growth rate of 10 per cent is ludicrous, when all the evidence is to the contrary. It is pertinent to mention that the International Monetary Fund, has estimated Indian real GDP growth rate for next fiscal to be around 4.8 per cent.
“An economy functions on four broad parameters— private consumption, government spending, exports and corporate investment. The consumer spending is down, as is shown in the deceleration in automobile, FMCG, real estate and retail sectors. Exports have declined for five consecutive months now and government’s insular attitude would only exacerbate it. Corporate investment has not taken off, even after the finance minister announcing a steep decrease in corporate tax last year and government’s spending would be limited by fiscal deficit which as per finance minister’s own admission has ballooned to 3.8 per cent against a projected 3.2 per cent,” said Mr Badal, saying that the colossal mismanagement of the NDA government over last several years, has resulted in decline of all four drivers of economic growth.
“I hate to say this, but India seems to be headed towards stagflation. We expected structural reforms in the budget, but all we got was elaborate paeans to the Prime Minister. With this level of fiscal deficit, I expect a downgrade of Indian credit rating, by international agencies very soon,” added Mr Badal.
He said that he was particularly perturbed, over total absence of any scheme for employment generation for India’s youth. “A few years ago, Prime Minister was talking about frying pakodas, and now his economic managers have come out with this grotesque concept called Thalinomics,” he said adding that such callousness was criminal in nature, at a time, when Indian was facing its worst ever employment crisis, with unemployment at almost 10 per cent.