Chidambaram targets Centre over economy

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Thursday took a jibe at the Central Government over the country’s state of economy, likening the Centre to a patient in denial of his disease.

Endorsing Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian’s concern that the rise in oil prices would ultimately reduce the GDP and spike inflation in the coming quarters, the former finance minister wrote on Twitter, “The CEA (Dr Arvind Subramaniam) has given his diagnosis.

Let’s see whether the patient (the government in charge of the economy) is still in denial or it will take corrective action.”

The tweet came minutes before the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget in the Parliament.

In a press conference post the presentation of the Economic Survey 2017-18 on January 29, the CEA had cautioned against the rising oil prices and said the high oil prices in the current fiscal year had impacted government finances and held back real economic activity.

ANI