Noting that the economy has gone through ups and downs in the past too, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December cited macro economic data from previous governments to suggest that the economy would bounce back again with much vigour and strength. Speaking at the centenary event of industry chamber Assocham, Mr Modi said that GDP growth in one of the quarters in previous government had plummeted to 3.5 per cent and other macro indicators were equally disappointing.

The Prime Minister said that he does not want to get into the debate as to why certain people remained silent then, adding that the economy would come out of the current slowdown. “In previous governments also, in one quarter the GDP growth had fallen to 3.5 per cent. During that time, where did CPI headline inflation reach? You would recall, it had reached 9.4 per cent. Where was CPI core inflation? It was 7.3 per cent. What was WPI inflation? It had reached 5.2 per cent. To what level did fiscal deficit reach? It was 5.6 per cent of GDP,” the PM said.