Government has no choice, must listen to wise counsel: Chidambaram

Former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram (File photo)
NEW DELHI: The Congress, after rejecting the government's economic package announced to revive the economy, has said that sooner than later the government will accept the suggestions made by the Congress.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said on Twitter: "I had tweeted a few days ago that the day is not far off when the Congress' suggestions will be accepted by the government. A stubborn government has no choice and must listen to experience and wise counsel."

"The government has hinted at taking up cash transfers to the poor," Chidambaram added citing media reports.

"The government has also practically admitted through unnamed sources that it has asked the RBI to be prepared for monetising part of the fiscal deficit," he further said.

The Congress has been demanding cash transfer directly to the people's account to the tune of Rs 65,000 crore.

Rahul Gandhi in his press conference on Tuesday said it is important the Government share concrete plans for how it intends to deal with our migrants crisis? How does it plan to scale up testing which is urgently needed? How does it plan to support our MSMEs? How will our State Governments be funded? There are many critical questions that the Government is not providing us answers to, which need to be addressed urgently, he said.

"Earlier this month, the Prime Minister announced an economic stimulus which according to him was equivalent to 10 per cent of the GDP. However, economists in India and around the world have done the maths and come to the sad conclusion that the economic stimulus announced by the Prime Minister is actually less than 1 per cent of our GDP and that too most of it is in terms of loans that could drag our MSMEs into a debt trap from which they will struggle to recover," Rahul Gandhi had said.