Which government – UPA or NDA – has been better for India’s economic and social indicators? 10 key parameters. They cover both economic and social criteria. 1.GDP growth: Average GDP growth in 1998-2004 (NDA) was 6% a year. Average annual GDP growth in 2004-13 (UPA), up to June 30, 2013, was 7.9%. 2. Current Account Deficit: 2004: (+) $7.36 billion (surplus). 2013: (-) $80 billion. The winner here is clearly NDA. It ran a current account surplus in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Under UPA this dipped into deficit from 2006 and has spun downwards since. 3. Trade deficit: 2004: (-) $13.16 billion. 2013: (-) $180 billion. Again, advantage NDA. 4. Fiscal deficit: 2004: 4.7% of GDP. 2013: 4.8% of GDP. Not much to choose between the two. 5. Inflation: 1998-2004: 5%. 2004-2013: 9% (Both figures are averaged out over their respective tenures). Advantage again to NDA. 6. External Debt: March 2004: $111.6 billion. March 2013: $390 billion. The UPA suffers badly in this comparision, a result of lack of confidence in India’s economy and currency following retrospective tax legislation and other regressive policies, especially during UPA-2. 7. Jobs: 1999-2004: 60 million new jobs created. 2004-11: 14.6 million jobs created. Clearly, the UPA’s big failure has been jobless growth – a bad electoral omen. 8. Rupee: 1998-2004: Variation: Rs. 39 to 49 per $. 2004-13: Variation: Rs. 39 to 68 per $. 9. HDI: 2004: India was ranked 123rd globally on the human development index (HDI) in 2004, with a score of 0.453. 2013: India has slipped 13 places to 136th globally on the HDI in 2013 with a score of 0.554. 10. Subsidies: 2004: Rs. 44,327 crore. 2013: Rs. 2,31,584 crore. Worse, a significant amount is siphoned off by a corrupt nexus of politicians, officials and middlemen Conclusion: UPA scores above NDA on one of the 10 parameters (GDP growth), is level on one other parameter (fiscal deficit) while NDA does better than UPA on the remaining eight parameters. The next time Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wishes to stage an encounter with facts, he would do well to be aware of those facts. Sources: Economic Survey of India, UNDP, IMF, Planning Commission of India.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 08:14:53 +0000