Prithviraj Chavan demands supplementary budget in view of economic crisis

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said that since the coronavirus pandemic has hit the country's economy, the central government should now present a supplementary budget during the monsoon session of Parliament.

He said that since the pandemic has plunged the country into an economic crisis, the Union budget presented in February has become "irrelevant".

"The finance minister must present a supplementary budget. New revenue streams, taxation and borrowing plans and revised expenditure priorities, cuts in development outlays must be approved by the Lok Sabha," Chavan said in a statement.

The former Maharashtra chief minister said that the GDP was 4.2 per cent for 2019-20. "On May 22, the RBI Governor had said in a press conference that the GDP will be in the negative.

Even international financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, Nomura have said that India's GDP would be 5 to 7 per cent in the negative," he said.