Dip in GDP growth rate due to technical reasons: Amit Shah

Playing down the dip in the GDP growth rate to 5.7 per cent, BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday said it was due to technical reasons and and added it had gone up to 7.1 per cent after falling to 4.7 per cent in 13-14 when the UPA was in power.

Shah also talked about demonetisation, which has invited fresh criticism from the opposition parties after RBI figures disclosed that over 99 per cent of banned notes were deposited with banks.

Addressing a FICCI meeting, Shah said that the note ban was an example of the hard decisions the government had taken to boost the economy.

"I definitely believe that the formal economy has increased due to demonetization. Money lying at various places is now part of the economy," he said, adding that this government does not link policy decisions with vote bank, reports PTI.

Shah said the number of total direct tax payers had doubled in the last three years from 3.7 crore to 6.4 crore and opening of 30 crore new bank accounts expanded the formal economy and linked everybody with it.

He also asked the business community to "encash" the "Brand India" built by the government globally and claimed that the NDA dispensation's most significant contribution was that it had transformed the "scale of thinking".

PTI