Chidambaram hits out at Sitharaman for her remark on GDP growth rate

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday took a jibe at the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for her GDP has 'steadied' remark, saying that she is 'happy' with the 'steady' decline of GDP growth rate of the country.

"FM said she is happy about the 'steadying' of the economy. What she probably meant was the 'steady' decline in the GDP growth rate. The growth rates in the last SEVEN quarters were 8.0; 7.0; 6.5; 5.7; 5.6; 5.1 and 4.7. Steady decline !" Chidambaram wrote on Twitter.

This tweet comes at the backdrop of Sitharaman's remark at an interview on Thursday where she said that she wasn't happy with the current growth rate but is pleased that the figures have 'steadied.'

On Thursday, Chidambaram had made similar remarks in view of the decline in GDP growth rate from several quarters.

"If the Q3 GDP number turns out to be about 4.5 per cent, the FM should not be surprised. The whole country is resigned to another depressing number," said the Congress leader.

Earlier, Chidambaram in a speech in Rajya Sabhi had termed the Modi-led government as "incompetent doctors" for their handling of the economy, saying "the patient is still being kept outside the ICU and being looked after by incompetent doctors.