New Delhi, August 31: The Congress Party has raised concerns regarding India’s GDP growth of 7.8 percent for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2026-27, citing current global uncertainties. They described this growth as an “extremely distorted picture” of the economy and labeled it as “premature optimism.”
On Monday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to social media to question the reported figures, presenting a bleak outlook for the country’s economy. He accused the quarterly GDP data of portraying a severely distorted reality, failing to reflect the weak sentiment for private investment in both domestic and foreign sectors.
Ramesh, who serves as the General Secretary for Communication in Congress, claimed that consumer confidence is “extremely sluggish.” He noted that it has reached its lowest point since the COVID-19 pandemic and has been on a downward trend since November 2025.
According to the Rajya Sabha MP, prices of essential goods are rising rapidly, and he pointed out that unemployment among educated youth in India has reached “alarming levels.”
He further stated that the consistently increasing trade deficit with China is wreaking havoc. The monopolization of key sectors by a few large groups, allegedly encouraged by the Prime Minister, is having detrimental effects on the economy.
Ramesh also claimed that the wealth of India’s five richest families has surged by 400 percent, while the real wages of salaried employees have declined. He added that domestic savings rates have dropped, and debt levels have hit record highs.
He emphasized that this situation reflects the Prime Minister’s tendency to celebrate prematurely.
This response follows the release of GDP figures for the April-June quarter, which exceeded the Reserve Bank of India’s estimated growth of 7 percent. This growth has occurred amidst the ongoing crisis in West Asia, high crude oil prices, supply chain disruptions, and other economic challenges.
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