NDA’s reforms far superior than UPA’s policies, says CEA (IANS Exclusive)

By Rohit Vaid and Subhash Narayan New Delhi, Feb 8 : Carrying out structural reforms with clear long-term growth objectives is the guiding principle of the Central government in dealing with a crisis, which is far superior to UPA government’s economic policies, Chief Economic Advisor K. Subramaniantold IANS.
The CEA said that carrying out structural reforms during a crisis might cause short-term pain, but will eventually lead to long-term gains. This he cited as the main difference between the current Central dispensation and the UPA government in terms of their respective responses in dealing with a crisis.
In a conversation with IANS, Subramanian compared NDA’s economic response to the Covid-19 pandemic to that of the UPA’s response to the 2008 credit crisis.
Besides, he said that UPA’s policies lacked vision to deal with a crisis as only short-sighted moves were carried out post the financial meltdown of 2008, resulting in the creation of economic imbalances.
Unlike the UPA response to a crisis, the Narendra Modi-led government, Subramanian said, has taken a long-term view of the economy during the pandemic and carried out a spate of reforms accompanied by an increase in capital expenditure.
This, he said, will add close to 6.25 per cent of the stated 11 per cent real GDP growth projected for FY22.