NEW DELHI: The Congress said that inflation was under control under the NDA government but accused it of ignoring the economy.
“Inflation is under control but food prices are high and high taxes are adding to high fuel prices,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
Referring to BJP chief Amit Shah’s recent remark that the GDP was down due to technical reasons, the Congress leader said the government had pushed a growing economy to a sluggish one.
Claiming that the previous UPA performed better, Singhvi cited data to support his charge that joblessness was rampant, exports were down, farmers were in distress and the GDP was sliding under the NDA regime.
Making a comparison, Singhvi said while exports rose to US $314 billion in 2013-14 under UPA, the sector has registered negative growth from $310 billion to $262 billion and $ 276 billion over the past three years.
Pointing at the plight of the small and medium enterprises, where the bulk of the jobs are, the Congress spokesperson said that credit to the segment has declined from Rs 1.19 lakh crore in July 2015 to Rs 1 lakh crore this year, a reduction of 16 percent.
Reiterating that demonetisation and GST have dented the GDP growth by around 2 percent, Singhvi said the government did not focus on arrest this slide.
According to the Congress leader, despite rising costs in China, India has made little headway into becoming a global manufacturing alternative, particularly at the low end that generates the most jobs.
“Textiles and clothing jobs from China are moving to Myanmar, Cambodia and, yes, Bangladesh, while Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are gaining in electronics production,” he said.
Finally, rising non-performing assets of the banks were also contributing to a slow economy, he added.