Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said reaching the $5 trillion target for the economy set by The Narendra modi administration was not possible in the current environment, with annual growth projected to cool to 6% or slower, according to some estimates.

With growth slowing, there is no hope of achieving that goal by 2024, Singh said on Thursday. “To reach the $5 trillion mark, the economy must grow by 10-12% per year. What is happening under the BJP (Bharatiya Janata) government is that the growth rate is declining. Even the international monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a statement that India’s growth rate will be only 6.1% compared to the 7% that was mentioned a few months ago, ” Singh said.

The IMF on Tuesday cut India’s economic growth forecast to 6.1% for the current budget from a July forecast of 7%, citing a weaker-than-expected domestic demand Outlook. The IMF also lowered India’s GDP growth forecast by 20 basis points to 7.2%.

Singh spoke at a meeting of the business community about the state of the economy in Mumbai. Maharashtra goes to the polls on October 21. Singh, a veteran Congress leader, conducted interactions as part of the party’s campaign in the state’s poll.

Singh, an economist widely credited with ushering in economic liberalization in India as Finance Minister at the time, argued that the relevant BJP-led governments in the Center and in the States are obsessed with “fixing blame on their opponents” rather than people-oriented policies.

“They’re talking about doubling foreign flows; I don’t think they’re in sight. They talk about creating two crore jobs, but the exact opposite is happening. The government is only interested in the headline management, not specific steps, ” he said.

Responding to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s recent statement that public sector banks had a “worst phase” in conjunction with former Prime Minister Singh and former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, Singh said: “This government now has a “worst phase” been in office for five years. It had to learn from our mistakes and provide a reliable solution for the economy.”

“The industrial downturn is on India’s way of optimally exploiting its demographic dividend,” Singh said.

Also watch: Manmohan Singh hits back after FM Sitharaman charge

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