Growth Debate: Can stimulus revive the economy?

It's been nearly a month since the government reported a slowdown in the growth rate for the first quarter of this financial year to just 5.7 percent. Since then, there has been talk of a stimulus, industry clamouring for a massive rate cut and some economists warning that the pain may have only just begun.

Now, voices within the BJP are raising the red flag. Last week, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Subramaniam Swamy had warned of an "economic depression" and today, former Finance Minister and veteran leader of the BJP has written a scathing critique of the government's handling of the economy.

In an editorial titled, "I need to speak up now", Sinha writes, "Nobody has a magic wand to revive the economy overnight. Steps taken now will take their own time to produce results. So, a revival by the time of the next Lok Sabha election appears highly unlikely. A hard landing appears inevitable. Bluff and bluster is fine for the hustings, it evaporates in the face of reality."

Sinha also went onto to write, "Private investment has shrunk as never before in two decades, industrial production has all but collapsed, agriculture is in distress, construction industry - a big employer of the workforce is in the doldrums, the rest of the service sector is also in the slow lane, exports have dwindled, sector after sector of the economy is in distress, demonetisation has proved to be an unmitigated economic disaster, a badly conceived and poorly implemented GST has played havoc with businesses"

It's not just Sinha, almost every reputed brokerage has forecast a sub 7 percent GDP growth in this financial year. All these brokerages had earlier predicted a growth rate of over 7 percent.

CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan and Latha Venkatesh caught up with Subramanian Swamy Rajya Sabha MP, BJP, Govinda Rao Former Member, PMEAC, DK Joshi-Chief Economist-CRISIL, Janmejaya Sinha-Chairman Asia Pacific-BCG and Rajeev Chandrasekhar MP, Rajya Sabha to take stock of the economy, the pain points and potential measures that can revive growth.

Watch video for more….