Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman cite statistics to counter Cong claim on economy

The information given by the Congress, and no less than by a former Prime Minister and a former Finance Minister, lacked in facts, Piyush Goyal said.

New Delhi, Jan 30: The BJP on Monday cited official statistics to counter the Congress' claim that the economy was not doing well and called the party press meets, addressed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, a damp squib.

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman in a joint press briefing said that during the last two and a half years of the Narendra Modi government, the economy has improved on every parameter as compared to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA's) last three years.

Citing official statistics, Goyal said that during the NDA rule, inflation has come down, current account deficit and fiscal deficit have narrowed, foreign exchange reserves have gone up and the GDP growth rate has been consistently above seven percent.

"The information given by the Congress, and no less than by a former Prime Minister and a former Finance Minister, lacked in facts," he said.

Goyal said that when the present government took over in 2014, India had come to be counted among the most fragile economies in the world, there was a policy paralysis and no foreign investments were coming.

"This government has ended policy paralysis, has brought in transparency and making policy-based decisions. As a result, huge investments have been attracted in infrastructure including roads and railways," he said.

Calling the Congress presser a "damp squib", Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Congress was trying to deflect attention from the Mallya controversy.

"We can give you concrete data for whatever we are saying. Where is the Congress data for their claims? I think their allegations are not based on hard research but on their wishful thinking," she said.

Sitharaman said that the Congress leaders did not answer questions raised by the BJP earlier in the day vis-a-vis beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya as to how could his companies get huge loans despite not fitting in the bill.

IANS