Ex-Finance Minister Chidambaram: Modi govt failed fiscal deficit test

Kolkata, Feb 27: The Narendra Modi government failed on the test of fiscal consolidation and the people of this country will pay the price for it, former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Monday.

"Starting from 4.5 per cent, the present government should have brought down fiscal deficit to three per cent in 2016-17. They twice postponed it and they said they would do in 2017-18. Last year they said they would do in 2018-19.

"In 2017-18, the fiscal deficit is supposed to be 3.2 per cent, but in the budget he (Finance Minister Arun Jaitley) has done 3.5 per cent. Next year, it should have been 3 per cent but he said he would do 3.3 per cent. On the test of fiscal consolidation, the government has failed," he said.