Fears of imminent economic slowdown have come true : Chidambaram on GDP

New Delhi, Jan 6: Reacting to the estimated figure of the Gross Domestic Production being 6.5 per cent for the current financial year 2017-18, senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the worst fears and warnings of an imminent economic slowdown have come true.

'The worst fears of an imminent economic slowdown have come true. Our fears and warnings have proved true. GDP growth in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 (estimated) is 8.0, 7.1 and 6.5 per cent. These numbers prove there is a slowdown.
The Modi government’s tall claims of India growing at a ‘robust’ growth rate have evaporated in thin air. No amount of sugar coating, false bravado and rhetoric along with headlines management can conceal the stark reality,' Mr Chidambaram said in a statement.
Mr Chidambaram said a decline in economic activity and growth meant loss of millions of jobs. 'New project announcements have declined, fresh investment is low, informal sector is still reeling under the ill-effects of demonetisation, job creation is abysmal, exports are plunging, manufacturing sector growth has slowed down, agriculture sector has been hit hard and rural despair is abundant,' he said.
The former Minister said a dispassionate assessment revealed serious weaknesses in the Indian economy. 
'The growth in GDP during 2017-18 is estimated at 6.5 per cent as compared to the growth rate of 7.1 per cent in 2016-17. Anticipated growth of real GVA at basic prices in 2017-18 is 6.1 per cent as against 6.6 per cent in 2016-17.
The ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ sector is likely to show a growth of 2.1 per cent in its GVA during 2017-18, as against the previous year’s growth rate of 4.9 per cent. This was 1.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively in the last two quarters. GVA at basic prices for 2017-18 from ‘manufacturing’ sector is estimated to grow by 4.6 per cent as compared to growth of 7.9 percent in 2016-17,' the former Finance Minister said.
Mr Chidambaram said while retail inflation soared to a 15-month high of 4.88 per cent in November and industrial output slowed to a three-month low of 2.2 per cent in October, new project announcements by Indian companies touched a 13-year low of Rs77,000 crore in the December quarter, as per the project-tracking database of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) .
'The manufacturing sector has seen the sharpest fall in new project announcements. Overall though, the investment picture remains bleak,' Mr Chidambaram said, adding that the fiscal deficit is likely to overshoot the budget estimates of 3.2 per cent of GDP. 
Terming job creation as the single biggest failure of this BJP government, Mr Chidambaram said, 'In a slowdown, how will jobs be created? And how will the promised 2 crore jobs per year be created?'
He said social discontent was a direct manifestation of this economic slowdown. 'The recent social discontent therefore can be a direct manifestation of this economic slowdown, which the government was conveniently hiding. It is time government stops making tall claims and bends down to do solid work.' 
Briefing media persons here on Friday, Chief Statistician T C A Anant said Gross Domestic Production growth will be at 6.5 per cent for the current financial year 2017-18, according to advance estimates of Central Statistics Office. The GDP growth in the previous fiscal (FY 17) was at 7.1 per cent.
He added that the next two quarters of the financial year would have a GDP growth of 7 per cent which will be better than the first two quarter of the fiscal. UNI