Page 26 - 31OCT2019E

Why Sitharaman’s ‘baby

steps’ are inadequate to

boost India’s economy?

he RBI Governor Shaktikanta The government, RBI Governor of 7 per cent. The auto sector is fac-
Das has stated what many had Shaktikanta Das says, had ing its worst crisis in two decades with
feared “the government had reports suggesting thousands of job
taken its eyes off the econo- taken its eyes off the economy losses in the automobile and ancillary
T my when the election season during the election season, industry, real estate sector have huge
began”. Former RBI Governor Raghuram unsold inventory, while fast-moving
Rajan has also called a slowdown in the reports tehelka bureau consumer goods companies have
economy “very worrisome”. The govern- reported a decline in volume growth.
ment, he said, needs to fix the immediate When the Union Finance Minister
problems in power and non-bank finan- India’s economic growth slowed to Nirmala Sitharaman held three third
cial sectors and come out with a new set 6.8 per cent in 2018-19 which was the press conferences in a row, the one
of reforms to energize the private sector slowest pace since 2014-15, and various where she had announced the merger
to invest. Rajan, who was Governor of the projections by private experts and of public sector banks, the problem had
Reserve Bank of India from 2013 to 2016, the central bank estimate that the become deep-rooted and the country
also called for a fresh look at the way GDP growth in the current year will seemed to stare at a slowdown.
GDP in India is calculated. be less than the government estimate India’s growth during the April-June

• Money matters Expect no slump in
government spends, assures Sitharaman

Tehelka / 31 october 2019 26 www.Tehelka.com