New Delhi, Jan 15 (UNI) Senior BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said that in the given situation only a government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the ensuing polls can deliver "growth and satisfy the nation’s aspirations".
"India today is the fastest-growing major economy in the world. Still we are not satisfied with a 7 to 7.5 % growth rate. We are increasingly becoming impatient and want to break the 8% barrier. Ease of Doing Business Rankings for 5 years have improved from 142nd position to 77th position. We have now to get into the first 50, if not still lower. Who should be India’s Prime Minister, if India were to achieve this?," Mr Jaitley wrote in a blog posted on the Facebook.
"Should he or she be constrained by his/her rival aspirants who have reluctantly supported him or her out of mere dislike for a common opponent or does India need a Prime Minister with a clear mandate as in 2014. Only such a Prime Minister can deliver growth and satisfy the Nation’s aspirations," Mr Jaitley wrote.
Analysing various facets of economy and country's growth journey, the Finance Minister said, "the average GDP growth of 7.3 % during the five years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a much larger base than that of his predecessors. The growth rates are higher. A higher growth rate on a larger base has a multiplier effect".
Secondly, Mr Jaitey wrote - during the five years of UPA-2, inflation varied between 12.2 % and
8.4%. In 2013-14, the UPA Government left behind an annual inflation figure of 9.4%. It took time for this figure to be moderated.
"In the five years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the inflation figure has been 5.9%, 4.9%, 4.5%, 3.6% and 3.9%. Once it moderated in the first year of the present NDA Government, it has consistently been kept in check. The Modi Government fixed a Statutory Inflation Target of 4% - plus minus 2% as range of inflation".
When Prime Minister Modi came to power, India was the tenth largest economy in GDP terms in the world. Presently, the fifth, sixth and seventh economies namely United Kingdom, France and India are within a very narrow range. A marginal fluctuation of currency values alters the size of the economies. India, of course, is projected to grow next year at 7.5%.
"This will conclusively ensure that India, at the end of the next Financial Year, could possibly be the fifth largest economy in the world," he said.
He also wrote - India’s fiscal discipline during the past five years has been amongst the best as compared to any preceding period.
The McKinsey Institute reports that the size of India’s middle-class is growing very fast from 14% in 2005 to 29% in 2015. It is estimated to go all the way to 44% in 2025.
With the kind of transfer of resources to rural India which have been made in the past five years, a huge aspirational class is emerging even in the rural areas, the Finance Minister said.
Giving a comparative analytic figure, the Finance Minister also said that while the GDP growth figures from 2014 to 2018-19 under Modi government has been 7.3 per cent, the inflation rate has come down to 4.6.
In contrast, he said under Manmohan Singh during UPA 2 - between 2009 and 2014 - the growth rate was 6.7 on average and the inflation was at 10.1 %.
Similarly, Mr Jaitley wrote - during UPA 1, the inflation rate was 5.7 and the growth rate stood at 6.9 only.
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