Watch: 'Confused' Nirmala Sitharaman fumbles over scribes’ questions on inflation, unemployment & black money

In an embarrassment to the Modi government, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman failed to give clear-cut answers on inflation, unemployment and black money during a post-Budget press conference organised by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Wednesday.

After giving a ‘convoluted’ response to a journalist’s question on inflation, Sitharaman looked upset and repeated her answer on the issue while responding to another journalist.

Notably, she did not utter a single word on black money and evaded a question on it.

In a video shared by PIB, Sitharaman can be seen repeating her answer. She said, “I will repeat even if the journalists found it convoluted.”

Then she said, “If you find it convoluted, I will ask someone else to answer”, but in the same breath, she added, “There is no attempt to obfuscate, sir”

Journalists covering the Finance Ministry, where free entry of mediapersons remains barred since last year, found Sitharaman’s answer utterly confusing.

“Perhaps she was rattled by hard-hitting questions on the burning issues faced by our economy,” said a senior journalist.

Interestingly, Sitharaman agreed on camera that due to inflation, when prices of essential commodities increase, the pinch is felt by the common man.

“I am not denying it. But we immediately reduced duties when we faced a problem of oilseeds. We also made efforts to increase imports of palm oil. We have made provisions in this Budget to increase production of oilseeds,” said Sitharaman.

Sitharaman went on to compare the rate of inflation with the time of UPA government. She said, “I would like to point out that inflation has not jumped over 6 percent in our tenure…while it was always in the range of 10%, 11%, 12 % before 2014.”

On the question of unemployment, the Finance Minister attributed it to the pandemic and global situation. “The pandemic had an impact on jobs…Through Atma Nirbhar Bharat many jobs remain intact…We are helping people through schemes.”

“I am not denying there has been an impact on jobs but to say that we have not done anything is not right either…We have given in detail what steps have been taken on job front in the Economic Survey…I will ask Sanjeev

Sanyal (Chief Economic Adviser) to share the information with you. It will help you,” said the Finance Minister.

Interestingly, she did not utter a single word on black money. Then the mic was handed over to a bureaucrat sitting beside Sitharaman.

It is worth noting here that the Modi government in its seventh Budget has increased capital expenditure by 27% and allocated a substantial share of funds for infra projects but cut down the subsidies substantially.

Funds for schemes like MGNREGS have also not been increased, which many feel will have adverse impact on rural economy and employment generation.