HYDERABAD: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley doesn’t know economics, Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Friday claimed while laying the blame of various policy failures on Jaitley which has, according to him, led the ‘Indian economy into a tailspin’.
Speaking at en event titled “Is the Indian economy in a tailspin?”, Swamy who is known to not see eye-to-eye with Jaitley on myriad matters, voiced out his criticism for Jaitley’s alleged inexperience in macroeconomics which, according to Swamy, reflected in the enforcement of demonetisation, GST and Aadhaar. “I had asked PM Narendra Modi (before he came to power) to promise demonetisation. However, it should be subjected to various conditions.
For instance, I asked him to make sure that the number of Rs100 notes are six times than it is today. So that people do not have to stand in queues,” Swamy said. “Secondly I had recommended the government to take their black money and put it in their own accounts.
And the government would take away, 30 per cent of that as their tax. You can draw 25 per cent of that as fresh new currency notes, and the remaining 55 per cent will be put in fixed deposit for five years at just 2 per cent interest. If you do this people themselves would come and give. But none of that was done,” he added. Swami said that he had given his recommendations to PM Modi in writing, who then forwarded it to Jaitley.
“He sent it to Mr Jaitley and what did he do? He asked why 20 per cent tax? I will put 50 per cent tax, Jaitley said. Why should any one pay the government 50 per cent?” He said, “I don’t expect the Prime Minister to know all subjects. He must have people whom he favours to be frank with him. Mr Jaitley doesn’t know any economics.”