Cong Flagging Threats to Economy, When will PM listen: Jairam Ramesh

The Congress on Saturday said it has flagged a decade-long real income stagnation, a consumption boom entirely driven by the expansion of credit and deepening inequality as the three threats to the economy, and wondered what will it take for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hear them.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh cited the remarks of Chief Investment Officer of Marcellus Investments, Saurabh Mukherjea, to press his argument.

"In a podcast interview, Chief Investment Officer of Marcellus Investments, the well-known Saurabh Mukherjea has identified three threats to the Indian economy which the Congress has been flagging for months," Ramesh said in a post on X.

He said Mukherjea has identified "a pernicious, decade long real income stagnation for the majority of India's working people" and a "consumption boom which is entirely driven by the expansion of credit and is therefore highly unsustainable".

The Congress leader said that Mukherjea had also flagged deepening inequality, with the elites expanding their wealth at rapid rates while the middle classes stagnate.

"Every serious economic commentator and analyst has more or less endorsed these same views. What will it take for the Prime Minister to hear them?" Ramesh said.

Last week, the Congress had cited an IMF report to flag "tepid" private investment growth in India. The opposition party had said the way out of the current "economic slump" requires measures to boost consumption, enhancing policy predictability and rationalising trade policy.

The Congress has been attacking the government over its handling of the economy, claiming the issues of rising prices, decreasing private investment and stagnating wages were hitting the common people hard.