india

Updated: Aug 31, 2019 11:50 IST

A day after India’s GDP slumped to a six-year low of 5 per cent for the first quarter of 2019-20, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said the country’s target of becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy may remain elusive in the absence of a new economic policy.

Not one to mince words, Swamy said the government neither has the boldness nor knowledge for a new economic policy.

“Get ready to say goodbye to Rs 5 trillion if no new economic policy is forthcoming. Neither boldness alone or knowledge alone can save the economy from a crash. It needs both. Today we have neither,” Swamy wrote on Twitter.

Get ready to say good bye to ₹ 5 trillion if no new economic policy is forthcoming. Neither boldness alone or knowledge alone can save the economy from a crash. It needs both. Today we have neither — Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 31, 2019

In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the goal of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024 was “challenging, but achievable”. Modi said the target can be achieved with the concerted efforts of states even as an economic slowdown tripped growth.

Experts have warned that India’s economic slowdown could become critical if the government does not focus on increasing investments. Core industries have witnessed a slowdown due to weak consumer demand and lack of investments and sectors such as automobiles, manufacturing and real estate have been badly hit.

The government has taken a series of steps, including the mega bank merger to contain the economic slump, but the recovery road is uphill. Earlier this month, Ernst & Young, one of the major global accounting firms, said in a report that India will need to grow by 9 per cent every year for five years continuously and raise aggregate investment rate to 38 per cent of GDP to achieve PM Modi’s target of turning India into a $5 trillion economy.

On Friday, chief economic adviser KV Subramanian said that the government was taking various steps to boost economic expansion.

“The slowdown in growth is due to endogenous and exogenous factors,” Subramanian said while commenting on the fresh GDP data.