GDP manipulation allegations ‘completely baseless’, says former Finance Commission Chief
New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) Former Finance Commission chairman and Institute of Economic Growth president, N.K. Singh, on Thursday rejected allegations questioning the methodology used by the government to calculate India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), calling such claims “completely baseless”.
Responding to questions over former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s concerns regarding GDP calculations, Singh said changing the base year and updating the methodology is a normal exercise undertaken by countries to ensure that economic data reflects emerging trends and developments.
“As far as I know, the allegation being made against the government is completely baseless,” Singh said.
He explained that countries periodically change the base year for GDP calculations as new data becomes available and new forms of economic activity emerge.
“Such revisions are intended to capture changes in the structure and performance of the economy more accurately,” he said.
According to Singh, the latest changes made by the government should not be viewed as an attempt to manipulate economic data. Instead, he described the exercise as an effort to make GDP estimates more robust and comprehensive.
He said the revised GDP methodology captures more data and a wider range of economic segments, allowing developments in the economy to be reflected more effectively.
Singh also linked the latest GDP growth figures with India’s improved sovereign credit rating, describing the developments of the past few days as a “moment of celebration”.
He noted that India had regained an ‘A’ credit rating after a gap of 38 years. India was an ‘A’-rated country in 1988 but lost the rating in 1991, and had to wait until 2026 to return to the category, he said.
Singh said it was particularly significant that the credit rating upgrade coincided with the latest GDP estimates, which showed the Indian economy growing at 7.8 per cent based on the new calculation methodology.
He described the simultaneous improvement in India’s credit rating and the strong GDP growth estimate as a “happy congruence”, arguing that both developments reflected the underlying strength and resilience of the Indian economy.
–IANS
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