Chidambaram calls the Budget political, slams it for no new takeaways

Former Finance Minister under UPA tenure P Chidambaram on Monday said that Budget 2016-17 gave no relief to the tax payer or to the middle class.

While addressing a Press Conference, he added, “Govt is boasting that they collected more tax than ever. It was only due to excise on Crude & not from corporate tax.”

Talking about his government’s efforts, ChidambaraI said that he is happy that the UPA schemes have been continued but the crucial problem is price.

“One big takeaway from the budget is that there is no new idea. There is a lukewarm reference to #GST bills but there is no promise of accommodating the legitimate criticism of Opposition. Little has been done to encourage private investments. This leaves many projects stranded.”

Chidambaram explained, “clearly the budget was expected to be political and I am not surprised. The Govt has wisely refrained from predicting the growth rate for 2016-17.”