Sitharaman's remarks on inflation absurd: Congress

The Congress on Saturday termed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's comments on inflation as "absurd" and accused the BJP-led government of lacking a "vision" to put the country's economy back on track.

"The Finance Minister just concluded a press conference. It was disappointing. Looking at India's economic situation, it was expected that the government will take steps to revive the economy, increase investments, create jobs and address issue of exports," senior Congress leader Anand Sharma told reporters at a press conference here.

"The Finance Minister has said that inflation is under control. This is absurd. The Finance Minister did not announce any measures to address the current economic situation. The BJP and its ministers lack the vision to revive the economy," he said.

Earlier in the day, Sitharaman said that inflation is under control and there is a clear sign of revival of industrial production. The Finance Minister also said that inflation in the range of 2.5 to 4 per cent is considered safe and it has been held under four per cent.

Sharma, who served as Commerce Minister, in the Manmohan Singh-led regime, said that BJP ministers' "shocking" statements "insulted" the youth of the country.

"If anyone has understood what the Finance Minister has said, please make me understand what she said," he said in a jibe at Sitharaman.

Continuing his tirade against Sitharaman, Sharma termed as "shocking" the Finance Minister's 'millennials are responsible for the economic slowdown' remark and said she did not apologise for her statement.

"No Finance Minister before this has made such an insulting remark," he said.

"Unemployment is rising, many industries are facing losses and closing down. The GDP growth has slowed down to 5 per cent. The Finance Minister and others are not able to understand the issues facing our economy. Unless the government invests, reviving the economy seems difficult," Sharma remarked.

He said that the government's vision of achieving a USD 5 trillion economy seemed like a "distant dream".

"They talk of achieving USD 5 trillion economy. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said if we have to achieve the figure, our nominal growth should be 12 per cent and real GDP should be 9 per cent. Forget about this term, I don't think that this can happen in the coming few years," Sharma said.