New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) Stepping up its attack on the government over the GDP growth slowing to a near two-year low, the Congress Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "voodoo economic policies" put India in the middle of a vicious economic cycle of low growth, no jobs, low income and high prices.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that every single aspect of the economy has been ruined by the Modi government.
"The growth rate is declining. There are no jobs for the youth. The condition of the manufacturing sector is worrying. Inflation has drained the pockets of the common people. The gap of economic inequality is widening," he said in a post on X.
"Now the rupee has reached 85, it is the second weakest currency in Asia. Only the billionaire friends of Modiji are making money, small businessmen are in bad condition. In such a situation, Narendra Modi ji it is important to remind you of your own statement made before 2014," he said.
Sharing an audio clip of Modi's remarks on falling GDP when the Congress was in power, Kharge said, "You will not listen to the voice of the people, listen to your own voice!!"
Addressing a press conference at Congress headquarters here, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the GDP figure isn't just a number but a measure of all economic activity in a country, jobs created, investments made, consumption and even foreign trade including exports.
"So, a slowdown in GDP can't be dismissed just because the numbers are uncomfortable for the BJP. India's Q2 GDP growth for the current financial year has plummeted to its lowest level in 21 months. This raises a lot of concern. Simply put, it means economic activity is sluggish, investments are not being made, consumption has been dampened, exports have crashed, jobs are not being created," she said.
"At 5.4%, GDP growth has come in as a rude shock. But the devil lies in the details and it should send alarm bells ringing among policymakers. Instead, there is complete denial, even dismissal of the harsh reality. However, what comes as a bigger disappointment is that policymakers are completely clueless," Shrinate alleged.
The RBI, in its last monetary policy, which was as late as October 6 had estimated GDP growth for Q2 at 7 per cent and the government meanwhile had projected the same at 6.5 per cent, she said.
Pointing to "sluggish consumption", Shrinate said, "Let's begin with private consumption, the engine of growth which accounts for nearly 60 per cent of GDP, has slowed down quite significantly, indicating a slump in demand, both in urban and rural India."
"In Q2 private consumption growth dropped to merely 5.9 per cent. A dip in consumption means people are spending less which in turn means corporates will manufacture less, so lower investments and fewer jobs are inevitable," she said.
"What follows as a direct corollary is the biggest red flag. A complete crash in manufacturing growth, which grew by merely 2.2 per cent is an indicator of low production and exposes the hollow claims of make in India and the PLI scheme."
Training her guns at the NDA government, Shrinate said there was no excuse for a slowdown in investments.
"Government expenditure in Q1 was Rs 4.15 lakh crore, and it, very conveniently, blamed the suppression on the model code of conduct during the Lok Sabha elections. But what explains a lower absolute expenditure Q2 at just Rs 4.01 lakh crore?" the Congress leader said.
Amid high unemployment and stagnant wages, back-breaking prices have dealt a body blow to family budgets of the middle class and the poor Indians, she pointed out.
"Inflation has been consistently close to the 6 per cent mark with vegetable prices rising by nearly 42.18 per cent, the highest in 5 years. But does the government care? Clearly not," she said.
Shrinate argued that because of high unemployment and back-breaking high prices people are forced to draw into their savings.
"Over the last five years, savings have dipped by as much as 44%. In 2019-20: 11.61 lakh crore were parked in savings today it has nearly halved to 6.52 lakh crore," Shrinate said.
For a government that inherited the rupee at 58 to the dollar, it is now dangerously close to the Rs 85 to the dollar mark, she said.
This is due to persistently high inflation and consistent foreign fund outflows, she said, adding that the RBI has "used a significant amount of forex reserves to stem that fall".
"Its reserves have dipped for eight weeks in a row at USD 656 billion from a peak of USD 704 billion," she said.
"Thanks to Narendra Modi and his voodoo economic policies, India is in the middle of a vicious economic cycle -- low growth, no jobs, low income, high prices, drop in savings and rise in loans," she said.
The Congress leader wondered, "When will the propaganda end, and when will the Modi government address the real economic challenges facing the nation? When will it get over its obsession with the world's fastest-growing economy and look at real per capita income, rising levels of economic inequality, low growth, low wages, no jobs and high prices? After all the condition is sharply worsening, but does Modi care?"
India's economic growth slowed to a near two-year low of 5.4 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal due to poor performance of manufacturing and mining sectors, but the country continued to remain the fastest-growing large economy.
However, India remained the fastest-growing major economy as China's GDP growth in the July-September quarter this year was at 4.6 per cent.