NEW DELHI: Congress leader and former minister P Chidambaram today said the government should hand out cash to the poorest to revive the economy.
“Give some cash to the poorest 50 per cent of the families in the country and offer foodgrain to those who need it. Use foodgrain stock to pay wages in kind and start massive public works, recapitalise banks to enable them to lend and pay the arrears of the GST compensation to states,” suggested Chidambaram.
To raise money, the former minister asked the government to relax the fiscal responsibility and budget management norms and borrow more, accelerate disinvestment, use the offer of USD 6.5 billion by the IMF, World Bank and the ADB and as the last resort, monetise part of the deficit.