Defending GDP figures, former CEA K Subramanian attacks his predecessor

Responding to a tweet stating that former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian had said India's gross domestic product (GDP) was overestimated by 2.5 per cent, the last CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian said that he would never indulge in making such "dubious claims".

In a tweet where a user tagged and asked him to respond, he tweeted, "Sorry I'm not quoted. My predecessor @arvindsubraman, who made the DUBIOUS claim (as shown in the Economic Survey 2019-20), is quoted."

"As our last names are the same, I will suggest a simple way to distinguish: I will NEVER indulge in throwing mud on my nation for petty personal gains," he said. "@arvindsubraman trying to resurrect his legacy through DUBIOUS claims is an example of behaviour that I will NEVER indulge in."

Subramanian added that a CEA's work is seen in economic performance "till a few years after one leaves" and the "performance for the first few years is what one inherits bcos of lags in the impact of economic policy."

He added that Subramanian could have "easily picked up the phone and spoken to the chief statistician if there was indeed something soo wrong as 2.5 per cent overestimation in GDP growth. If he didn't, throwing mud on the Indian economy for petty personal gains after leaving office shows a complete lack of values."

Talking about the paper that talked about the overestimation, he said that "the selective use of econometric methodology would have been pointed out."

"Clearly, the paper was never presented in a seminar or conference. It was a 'working paper' written for petty personal gains...this working paper will NEVER get published in a peer-reviewed journal bcos the fundamental econometric flaw will be the first thing a peer reviewer will point out," he said in the tweet.

The thread was initiated by former Congress member of Parliament Sanjay Jha, who tweeted about the latest GDP figures saying, "India's GDP over-inflated by 2.5 per cent by Modi government. Just deduct 2.5 per cent from what they propagate. Arvind Subramanian said it. He is a former chief economic advisor to the NDA. End of story. What you hear is a bag of lies."

India recorded GDP growth of 6.1 per cent in the last quarter of the previous financial year. In 2022-23, the GDP growth was recorded as 7.2 per cent.