India’s decision to refrain from pushing demand through handouts during the COVID-19 pandemic is paying off now, as developed countries like the U.S. and Germany, which relied on such stimulus packages, are now facing runaway inflation, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament on Friday.
Ms. Sitharaman also sought to dismiss comparisons between the growth rates of India and Bangladesh as inappropriate as she took on some members’ criticism about the Budget’s growth arithmetic as misleading. She went on describe the Congress-led UPA’s tenure as a ‘rahu kaal (evil hour) as well as ‘Rahul Kaal’ for the country. While she did not directly name Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during her speech, she brought up his actions of tearing-up a proposed law, that had been cleared by Cabinet, when he was a general secretary of the party.
