The Congress party on Friday said that the forthcoming Budget 2024 must tackle critical economic issues, including the persistently slow private investment and sluggish private consumption, dismissing claims of accelerated economic growth and substantial job creation.
Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, raised pointed questions ahead of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s scheduled presentation of the Budget for 2024-25 on July 23.
In a post on X on Friday, Ramesh asked, “Why is private investment, a key engine of economic growth, still so very sluggish recording a 20-year low during April-June 2024?”
He also asked why private consumption, another vital economic engine, remains stagnant except at higher income levels.
He further pointed out alarming trends such as record-low household savings coupled with soaring household debt, and declining rural wages.
“Why have rural wages continued to fall and why is the wage share of national income declining?,” he asked, adding, “Why is manufacturing as a share of GDP at a record low and still decreasing?”
He also questioned significant job losses in the informal sector over the past seven years.
“Why has the informal sector lost 17 lakh jobs in the last 7 years? Why did unemployment reach a 45-year peak, with unemployment for young graduates at 42%?,” he said.
These are fundamental questions that the forthcoming Budget will have to address, Ramesh asserted.
Earlier, the BJP claimed the creation of approximately 12.5 crore jobs during the Modi government’s tenure, citing the Reserve Bank of India’s recent report mentioning five crore jobs in the fiscal year 2023-24 alone.
Amidst expert calls for tax relief to boost consumption and measures to curb inflation and accelerate economic growth, the economy achieved an 8.2% growth rate in 2023-24.