“At the end of four years, the government has switched over to a modest Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas (Clean intention, right progress)!.

“At the end of four of the five years allowed to a government, the people cannot be expected to judge a government by its intent. The correct test is outcomes. Look at the boxes with the graphs. And every line, after showing promise in the first year, has dipped.

“From 8.2% to 6.7% in two years, it is a fall of 1.5% - exactly what I had predicted after demonetisation,” he noted.

“Gross NPAs have risen from ₹2,63,015 crore to ₹10,30,000 crore and will rise more. The banking system is practically bankrupt. I have not come across a banker who will willingly sanction a loan; nor an investor who will confidently borrow money,” he added.

Chidambaram also said credit growth dipped drastically from 13.8% to 5.4% before recovering somewhat in 2017-18.

“Within credit growth, it is credit to industry that is important. In the last four years, annual credit growth rates to industry were 5.6, 2.7, - 1.9 and 0.7%,” he said.