After analysing the drubbing Congress-led UPA received at the recent elections, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has issued a statement reminiscent of the tough message to the nation delivered by PV Narasimha Rao as the then prime minister in 1991.
Writing in his blog and on his Facebook page, the minister has pointed out that pulling the country out of the present economic situation “will involve fiscal rectitude as combination of monetary and fiscal policy. Slower GDP growth will imply lower tax buoyancy and higher fiscal deficit.”
This means tough times in the short-term with expected better results a few years hence when the GDP growth moves upward again.
Showing the roadmap to the people further, Jaitley writes: “We must move towards an era of fiscal discipline where we can reduce the fiscal deficit, contain inflation and improve upon our growth rates. India must prepare itself for this.” Therefore, drastic cuts in government expenditure is on the cards. Things will cost more, too, otherwise the minister would not have tried to ready the people for it.
“We must commit ourselves to this discipline so that in order to strengthen the Indian economy which can improve the quality of life of every Indian and pull out the deprived ones from the state of poverty. Short term disciplining till we reverse the present trend will give us long term benefits,” Jaitley assured in a no-nonsense manner.
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