Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 07:29 AM IST
Funds transfer by RBI to government ‘catastrophic’, says Congress
Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma demanded a white paper on the state of the economy within a week.
New Delhi: Unable to counter the BJP’s Hindutva narrative, the Congress plans to return to its basics, such as secularism, and target Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic policies. Sticking to that script, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked the government on the move to take Rs 1.76 lakh crorse from the RBI reserves. Mr Gandhi tweeted: “PM & FM are clueless about how to solve their self created economic disaster. Stealing from RBI won’t work — it’s like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary & sticking it on a gunshot wound.”
Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma demanded a white paper on the state of the economy within a week. He said: “The government made the wrong Budget, it’s in loss. That’s why they snatched the RBI’s money and pushed the country towards an economic emergency.” He added: “It is a catastrophic decision. The government has done it out of sheer desperation. Its follies have brought the Indian economy to ruin.”
In comparison to the previous year, the amount of transfer this year is more than double the `68,000 crores that the RBI provided to the Modi government last year. It exceeds the Centre’s Budget estimate of `90,000 crores as dividend from the RBI this year. The excess reserve transfer is in line with the recommendation of the Bimal Jalan panel constituted to decide the size of capital reserves that the central bank should hold.
The infusion of funds from the RBI will boost the government’s efforts to boost the economy.
Hitting back at the Congress, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “Rahul Gandhi says chor [thief], I won’t say the same word. The Congress is stuck with the chor tag, they are experts in using this word. I would have wanted the Congress to not sully the RBI’s reputation. Whenever Rahul Gandhi raises things like ‘chor, chori’ one thing comes to my mind, he tried his best ‘chor, chor, chori’, but the public gave him a befitting reply. What’s the point of using the same words again?”
