Centre should focus on free-spending policies, says Nobel winning economist Abhijit Banerjee

Nobel laureate Economist Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee said on Thursday in Kolkata that the central government should emphasize more on free-spending policies like Europe and the US economies rather than getting more concerned about balancing the deficit and the budget.

Banerjee also expressed his apprehension that the economy of the country will be hit badly if the third wave affects the country severely. Banerjee is a part of Bengal government's COVID advisory Global Advisory Board and was in Kolkata today to attend a meeting chaired by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and other experts, including doctors, of the Board about the preparedness of the third wave with Bengal’s COVID positivity hovering around one percent now.

Asked about the Centre’s decision to increase cess on fuel, Banerjee said, “The central government has fiscal problems. It may have more faith in balancing the budget than free-spending policies. As the economy is slow, the Centre is trying to use this one instrument of tax collection,” he said when.

However, he expressed his opinion that the central government should be more open-handed about free spending. "The government should have been more open-handed with the spending. I think the central government is unwilling to do what US or European economies are doing - printing money and spending,” the economist said, adding that he has mentioned this several times.

After a meeting on third wave preparedness in Bengal, Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee said West Bengal is the best in the country, in terms of stopping wastage of vaccines.

Talking about vaccine supply related complaints, Abhijit Banerjee expressed concern that “the Centre is not capable of generating the supply needed for the whole country.”

“The inflation is already up due to the high fuel prices. The central government has now moved towards that direction and have announced several relaxations,” the Nobel laureate said, praising the Centre.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee wrote a letter to the Prime Minister asking for more vaccines from the central government. Centre provides a larger number of vaccines to Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka which are BJP ruled states, Mamata Banerjee claimed.

Seeking more vaccines from the Centre, Mamata said many people are still denied vaccines and making queues outside the government vaccination centres. In the letter, Mamata also mentioned that Bengal has three international borders and vaccines can only help to stop the spread of COVID 19 virus.