After TLI Story, Union Health Minister Clarifies On Govt’s Dependence On Foreign Loans
The article was originally published in The Logical Indian. Read here.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan’s half-hearted assurance that government is not dependent on foreign loans is hollow, since documents accessed by Saurav Das on behalf of The Logical Indian revealed loans were taken even for Rs 22 crores from a foreign bank in June. Harsh Vardhan failed to explain the necessity of these loans.
On October 01, The Logical Indian exposed the Modi government’s heavy dependence on foreign loans and resistance to using PM-CARES fund for the fight against corona. The story revealed that the Centre’s Rs 15,000 crore special COVID package, announced on April 22 this year, was entirely financed through loans from Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the Chinese Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Professor Jayati Ghosh of JNU, a UNDP award-winning development economist called this “absolutely unnecessary”, “a currency risk” and that the loan will “significantly add to repayment costs as the rupee will depreciate in value”. She also said that the amount could have been easily financed by the Centre itself, if not the PM-CARES fund since it is only 1/10th of the amount given as tax concessions to corporates last year “without blinking an eyelid”.
