New Delhi, June 12 (TIWN) Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has criticised the government for not releasing the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers.

"The economy is in safe hands, says the FM. It is in such ''safe'' hands that the government will not release the IIP numbers for April 2020," tweeted Chidambaram.  "Will the government lock up the IIP numbers in a safe vault to be opened only after 20 years? questioned the former finance minister.  Chidambaram attacked the government when India''s GDP growth rate came down to 3.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2019-20 fiscal from 4.1 per cent in Q3.  He said the latest figures were a "telling commentary on economic mismanagement in the country".  "We had forecast that the Gross Domestic Product for Q4 will touch a new low at below 4 per cent. It has turned out to be worse at 3.1 per cent," Chidambaram tweeted. 

He said these figures are for pre-lockdown period. Of the 91 days of Q4, the lockdown applied to only seven days of the given fiscal quarter, the Congress leader said.  "It is a telling commentary on the economic mismanagement," Chidambaram added.