Can GDP numbers be Fudged?
Introduction Recently, there is a controversy regarding the GDP number that is projected to reach 7.8% year-on-year. Some of the politicians from the opposition and economists claim that this number is fudged to inflate GDP. The central government defended that its first quarter number has been calculated following standard methods that are used in other countries. Ceasing the opportunity to attack the government, the opposition parties quickly jumped into the bandwagon, repeating the suspicion aired by the ex-finance secretary of the central government. The ex-finance secretary further said that wrong figures would dent the investor confidence. Ex-Finance Secretary Claim Some days ago, an ex-finance secretary in the ministry came out with the claim that the first quarter result of the current financial year GDP number was fudged, citing the downward revision of the nominal GDP from Rs 86,000 crore to Rs 80,000 crore in the last quarter of the year before. He alleged that i...