BJP questions Mukherjee's rejection of S&P warning

The BJP today challenged Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asking him to explain on what grounds he rejected the ratings of Standard & Poor, which said India’s growth story is slowing down and it may fall off the graph as a investment destination.

“Pranab Mukherjee rejected the S&P findings flatly. But can he deny that the GDP and IIP have come down drastically? The IIP number, which has come from a government agency, shows that the growth is a mere 0.1 percent on a year-on-year basis. Last year, it was over 5 percent,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said at a press conference in New Delhi.[caption id=“attachment_340901” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Attacking the government. PTI”] [/caption]

“The current account deficit is 4 percent of the GDP. They are fulfilling deficit with short term borrowings, which is not good,” he said.

“Can he deny that the fiscal deficit is hovering around 6 percent? How can the finance minister deny that growth has come down to 5 percent from 7 percent?” Javadekar questioned.

“In the last three years, the interest rates were increased 13 times,” the BJP spokesperson said.

“The textile sector, which is the second largest employer, has shed off 15 lakh people,” he said.

The BJP said that Indian economy is not performing to its potential because of policy inertia.

“Differences between 7 Race Course Road and 10 Janpath have led to the economic crisis in the country,” Javadekar said blaming the government and the Congress party for falling GDP and IIP numbers.

“There is policy paralysis because of the inner contradictions among the stakeholders of the ruling alliance. The Congress and the government are also not on the same platform,” the BJP spokesperson said.