Hitting out at the NDA government at the Centre over its decision to take Rs 1.76 lakh crore from the Reserve Bank of India , Congress on Tuesday said that the decision has left the Central bank on the redline in terms of its reserves .
Speaking to reporters here , senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said that such the move to transfer RBI reserves to the Government was the result of the ‘monumental mismanagement’ of the economy by the government which was pushing the country towards financial debacle.
He said that the previous committees of the RBI had also recommended to keep at least minimum 6 per cent of surplus in the RBI reserve account. However, after the Modi government’s decision of transferring Rs 1.76 crore , the RBI will only be left with 5.5 per cent of reserves.
Sharma said that the previous RBI Governors including Raghuram Rajan, Urjit Pateland Dr D Subbarao were also not in favor of this move.
He said that the government had in the last year’s budget cut down Rs 1.45 crores from the expenditure which also included the subsidy that had to go down to the poor via the DBT which was Rs 69000 crores. He demanded that the government bring out a white paper on the economy.
Sharma said that the Congress supports the Government’s aim to target five trillion economy by 2024 . ‘However , for that the country needs to grow at least at nine per cent growth annually,’he said..
He said that the way the present government is running the economy and with the central bank surplus being used , the situation can become like of Argentina , who’s economy got ruined post a similar move.
Giving example of Argentina, he said that the country’s central bank transferred its surplus income recently and the country’s economy got ruined as a result. He said that the country was in the midst of an economic crisis and the government was further pushing it into a worst situation.
Sharma said that the second largest employer in the economy which is the textile sector is in a bad shape and pleading for help, ‘The agricultural distress is already known to all,’he said.. (UNI)
