New Delhi
Obliquely referring to Yashwant Sinha as a “job applicant at 80”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today responded to the fierce criticism by the former Finance Minister on the state of economy by citing the 15.7 per cent rise in direct tax collections to question the “so-called slowdown”.

Jaitley, addressing a gathering at the book launch of “India@70, Modi@3.5”, edited by Bibek Debroy, chairman, Economic Advisory Council, and President’s press secretary Ashok Malik, took potshots at Sinha without naming him. Sinha had in a hard-hitting article blamed Jaitley for the slowdown.

Jaitley said the title of the book should have added, “A job applicant@80”, referring to Sinha, whose record as Finance Minister he questioned, citing the low forex reserves and high NPAs in the banking system then.

Jaitley claimed Sinha and former Finance Minister in the UPA government P Chidambaram (both have attacked the Modi government’s economic policies) had been acting in tandem in a bid “to change the narrative”.

“Everybody wants to tell the policy-makers what they should be doing. Being a former Finance Minister, I can conveniently forget a policy paralysis (during UPA-II). I can conveniently forget the 15 per cent NPAs in 1998 and 2002 (during Sinha’s term). I can conveniently forget the $4 billion reserves left in 1991 and I can switch over and change the narrative,” Jaitley said.

He said the NDA government had taken decisive measures for stimulating the economy and while demonetisation had had a short-term slowdown impact, it would prove to be beneficial in the long term.