This refers to the report, “GDP growth dispels note ban fear” (March 1). India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, which stands at seven per cent in the third quarter ending December, is just a bit lower than the 7.4 per cent of the corresponding quarter last year, and contradicts those who saw demonetisation as a disaster for the economy. Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen termed demonetisation as a “despotic act”. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saw the GDP growth declining by two per cent, and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram called it the “biggest scam of 2016”.
Amartya Sen’s prejudice against the Prime Minister is no secret and Singh and Chidambaram are leaders of the Congress. In light of the just-released GDP figures on the impact of demonetisation seem to be exaggerated though the Congress, some economists and rating agencies have questioned the GDP figures disbelieving their authenticity. However, GDP data is of no importance to the voters.