Opposition flags govt decline in eco growth, inflation

New Delhi : Opposition members on Monday flagged the low economic growth rate of 5.4 per cent in the second quarter of current fiscal and sought to know from the Finance Minister what steps the government is taking to boost growth, control inflation and create jobs.

Participating in the debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Lok Sabha, TMC member Sougata Ray said the government is caught in "pincer movement" of whether to push growth or control inflation and the economy is not in a "fair shape". "There is a typical crisis in the economy. The crisis is our growth projection for Q2 slipped to 5.4 per cent. This is very damaging to the economy and there is a sharp slowdown in the manufacturing sector," Ray said. He also alleged that former RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had to leave the Reserve Bank because he did not heed to the demand of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to cut interest rate. Instead, Das decided to focus on containing inflation.

"There was a dispute between the Finance Minister and RBI Governor. The Reserve Bank wanted to keep repo rate stable, whereas the finance minister was pushing it for reducing it so that more money could go to the economy. Ultimately, the Reserve Bank Governor had to leave," Ray said. Through the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants, the government is seeking Lok Sabha's nod for additional net expenditure of Rs 44,143 crore in the current fiscal, mainly on account of higher spending by agriculture, fertiliser and defence ministries.