PM Modi hit out at critics saying the economy was on the right track.
Lashing out at critics of his economic policies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the Indian economy was on firm footing and that he will never jeopardise the country's future for present gains.
In an over hour-long speech, punctuated with sharp comments and comparisons with track record of previous UPA regime, Modi told a gathering of Company Secretaries that his government will continue reforms and will not hesitate to take decision to reverse the GDP slowdown witnessed in last two quarters.
"I will not jeopardise the future of the country for my present gains," he said, adding the government would focus on structural reforms rather than giving doles to win praises.
Modi said his critics were focusing on the slowdown in the last two quarters but were ignoring the fact that the BJP government had brought down inflation from 10 per cent in the UPA regime to 2.5 per cent, shrunk Current
Account Deficit to near 1 per cent from 4 per cent and brought down fiscal deficit to 3.5 per cent from 4.5 per cent.
GDP growth was 5.7 per cent or less than that on eight occasions during previous UPA government, he said, lamenting how pessimists were describing the April-June growth of 5.7 per cent as doomsday.Modi made comments days after senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha in an article headlined "I need to speak up now", described the economy as a "mess" that will not resuscitate before the next general elections.
"The Government is committed to reverse this trend...we are capable of that and ready to take decisions," Modi said, adding the decisions taken by the government will take India to a new growth trajectory.
The Prime Minister said there was a time when India was part of 'fragile-5' and the BJP government pulled it out to make it the fastest growing economy for most part of its three-year rule.
The government, he said, was aware that growth has slowed and is taking steps to improve it.
Addressing concerns over implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the prime minister said that he has asked the GST Council to identify bottlenecks and technological hurdles faced by businesses especially small and medium enterprises.
The government, he said, is ready to make amends to help small traders. Modi said registration of 2.1 lakh out of 3 lakh suspected shell companies identified post note-ban has been cancelled in a crack down on the blackmoney.
He went on to attack the Congress-led UPA saying: “Inflation was more than GDP growth during previous regime, when high price rise, fiscal deficit and CAD made headlines.”
He said that double digit inflation had come down to less than 3%, CAD brought down to 2.5% and fiscal deficit reduce to 3.5%.
He said that fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong and reform process will continue keeping financial stability in mind, saying the govt’s decisions will take India to the ‘next league’.
Defending demonetization, he said the cash-to-GDP ratio had come down to 9% from 12% before Nov 8, 2016.
Sharpening his attack on pessimists he said: “Even with so many economists around, India was a part of Fragile 5. What do pessimists have to say about 23% increase in vehicles sales. Pace of economic reforms by this govt in comparison to UPA is crystal clear.”
He also said: “Govt committed to reverse the slow economic growth. We have chosen the difficult path, have faced criticism for that but we are dedicated to empower the common man.”
He said he has spent over Rs 10,000 crore in renewable energy in 3 years. Lauding the Finance Minister’s battle against shell firms, he said the move will create awareness.
Praising GST, he said it had allowed the government to add 19 lakh taxpayers.
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