0 Comment(s) *
* The moderation of comments is automated and not cleared manually by indianexpress.com.
On the figures quoted by Sitharaman, Chidambaram said, "The finance minister's arithmetic is correct but her mathematical conclusion is wrong." (File Photo) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday countered Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for saying the NDA government’s developmental expenditure was higher than that under the UPA, asserting that as a proportion, social services expenditure had plummeted after 2014-15.
Citing the Reserve Bank of India data, Sitharaman’s office had tweeted on Saturday that the total developmental expenditure incurred by the government in 2014-22 was Rs 90.9 lakh crore, higher than what was being alleged by some sections of the Opposition.
In contrast, only Rs 49.2 lakh crore was spent for the purpose from 2004-14, the tweet read.
Chidambaram stated, “Regrettably, the FM thinks that the average Indian has below-average intelligence in understanding numbers relating to finances.”
He added: “The finance minister’s arithmetic is correct but her mathematical conclusion is wrong.” “The size of the Budget is bigger every year. Total expenditure is bigger every year. Developmental expenditure or social services expenditure will also be bigger every year!” the former finance minister tweeted.
“Such a comparison will reveal that, as a proportion, social services expenditure has plummeted after 2014-15,” he said. —With PTI
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
