Modi govt’s white paper details how economy went from ‘healthy to fragile’ in 10 years

The Finance Minister presented the White Paper on Indian Economy

The Centre on February 8 released the White Paper on the Indian Economy and said that every challenge of the pre-2014 era was overcome through the NDA government’s economic management and governance.

The report, which was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha, categorically stated events and policy decisions taken by the UPA government, which turned the Indian economy from a position of strength in 2004 to fragility in 2014 — a ten-year tenure of the UPA government at the centre.

The Finance Ministry’s White Paper lambasted the previous UPA government and accused it of mismanaging the country’s economy after inheriting a healthy economy ready for more reforms.

The Modi-led government further accused the UPA government of severely undermining the macroeconomic foundations in its quest to maintain high economic growth by any means after the global financial meltdown in 2008.

The UPA government severely weakened the foundation laid by the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee resulting in price instability, it claimed.

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The NDA government also accused the Congress-led UPA of leaving behind a legacy of banking crisis. “When the Vajpayee-led NDA government took office, the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio in public sector banks was 16.0 percent, and when they left office, it was 7.8 percent. In September 2013, this ratio, including restructured loans, had climbed to 12.3 percent largely because of political interference by the UPA government in the commercial lending decisions of public sector banks,” the White Paper on Indian Economy stated.

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The report also added that in 2014 when the BJP-led NDA formed the government, the economy was in a fragile state, public finances were in bad shape, and there was economic mismanagement, financial indiscipline and widespread corruption. It was a crisis. The responsibility to mend the economy step-by-step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous.