Thread by @SauravDassss

My story. A thread.

On April, 22 the Modi govt had announced a special package of 15,000 crores for the fight against corona. What the govt. concealed is the fact that the entire amount has been taken as a loan from int banks.

There's more to this-

thelogicalindian.com/finance/pm-car…

The PM-CARES had collected more than 9,000 crores by May 20, as per an @IndiaSpend report. But that figure was only acc. to publicly available press releases. The original amount was much more than that!

@SaketGokhale

Here's the problem-

Instead of spending the amount from the entirely opaque PM-CARES fund, Modi govt was keener on borrowing money from international banks like Asian Development Bank, IBRD and AIIB. I spoke to @Jayati1609, UNDP award-winning development economist and JNU professor & she said this-

She called the move "completely unnecessary and a currency risk" and since the "rupee is likely to depreciate further, and repayment will be in dollars".. it will "significantly add to repayment costs".

IHO, the package could've been financed by PM-CARES & even by central govt..

.. directly. "The package is less than 1/10th of the amount given away as tax concessions to corporates in the previous financial year, which the government did without blinking an eyelid!".

Not only this- documents reveal that on June 15, the govt rushed to ADB asking for...

... a loan of 3 million dollars (22 crores) to strengthen Point of Entry systems in airports!

Remember, Centre has fast-tracked d Central Vista project, which'll cost 20,000 crores, during a pandemic! Modi's VVIP aircraft has landed in Delhi today, costing another 8400 crores!

But for Corona, Centre has no money to spend.

The question is- If the PM-CARES is not being used for what it was meant for & govt is rushing to Int banks, increasing burden on public exchequer, then what is the fund being used for?

More details in the story for @LogicalIndians