Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday took to Twitter to argue that “every economist of the government has spoken against [the 2018-19 Union] Budget’s provisions” and the chorus of dissent has grown.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Chidambaram said that from the former NITI Aayog chief Arvind Panagariya to the present chief, Rajiv Kumar, several top economists had expressed their reservations over some aspects of the Budget.
“The chorus of dissent against Budget provisions grows. Dr Arvind Panagariya speaks against protectionist custom duties,” he tweeted. “World stock exchanges protest government-inspired NSE/BSE restrictions on sharing data with other exchanges as protectionist.”
Dr. Panagariya, in a recent opinion piece, had expressed reservations on the government’s protectionist slant and compared it to the pre-1991 economic liberalisation days.
“Dr. Rathin Roy, Member, PMEAC, joins Dr. Panagariya,” Mr Chidambaram said in another tweet, referring to Dr. Roy, a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, reportedly expressing his unhappiness over the government relaxing the fiscal deficit target.
12 questions
Last week, opening the debate on the Budget in the Rajya Sabha, the former Finance Minister had raised 12 questions concerning fiscal indiscipline, long term capital gains tax (LTCG) and inconsistent direct taxes, among other issues.
Mr. Chidambaram’s latest tweets are a continuation of his earlier critique of the Budget. He said Surjit Bhalla, another economist on the PM’s economic council, too has spoken out against the long term capital gains tax on stocks and mutual funds.
“Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog hopes that these measures are ‘temporary’! ,” said Mr Chidambaram.
