Sitharaman seeks to debunk data fudging claims

Slammimg the erstwhile UPA government, Sitharaman said between 2012 and 2013, foreign investment recorded a negative 36 per cent growth.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday sought to debunk claims of data fudging by the government and said it was not hiding any numbers.

"No resources have been cut down for anybody but I wish to assure all members who participated during the discussion that the government is keen to work together with everybody and we want the economy to gallop," Sitharaman said replying to a debate on the Union Budget 2020-21 in the Rajya Sabha.

Without naming Congress leader P Chidambaram, she took on the former finance minister for his remarks that the chief of defence staff should strongly protest against the reduced budget allocation for defence sector and that his party would stand in his support.

She asserted that Modi government has not fudged any accounts.

"The total of oil bonds issued was Rs 1.4 lakh crore or 1.9 per cent of the then GDP. Even today, we are paying annually Rs 9,900 crore on these bonds as interest.

"Alright the government borrows and we have to pay interest. Understood. Government's liability on oil subsidy is something where we all have to see when we are talked down to fudging of accounts," Sitharaman explained.

She said the government liability on oil subsidies was shifted to oil marketing companies during the UPA rule so that their books appear nice and they don't have too much of overload.

Between 2012 and 2013, foreign investment recorded a negative 36 per cent growth, the minister said, adding, "literally FDI ran out of this country. And this is competent doctors holding the economy together".

Referring to fiscal deficit data, she asserted that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, fiscal discipline has been maintained all through.

She read out the fiscal deficit numbers from 2014-15, till Budget Expenditure 2020-21 to back her assertions.

Photograph: ANI Photo