Attacking the government over the state of the economy, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday said instead of indulging in “vain boasts” it should put out a reasoned paper on why it expects real GDP growth to be over 8 per cent in 2022-23. The former finance minister also asked what is the government’s explanation for a “shrinking workforce” and a “growing number of unemployed” registered in the employment exchanges.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram lauded global investor Ruchir Sharma’s op-ed in a newspaper on Monday and said it must be made compulsory reading for the ministers in the Modi government and their economic advisors.

“Instead of indulging in vain boasts the government should put out a reasoned paper on why it expects real GDP growth to be over 8 per cent in 2022-23,” he said.

“The Government should also answer my question in the RS: if nominal GDP growth will be 11.1 per cent and real GDP growth will be 8 per cent, does the government assert that inflation will be about only 3 per cent?” Chidambaram said.

He also asked the government to explain why it is pursuing “rejected policies like self-sufficiency (protectionism) and deglobalisation”.

Will policies that may work for developed countries work for a developing country with low per capita income like India, he further asked.

The Congress has been critical of the Modi government’s handling of the economy and has called on the Centre to provide jobs to the youth.