Slamming at the Centre, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said unemployment is high in the country and its informal sector is in shambles following the "ill-considered demonetization decision" taken by the BJP-led government in 2016.

Singh also criticized the central government for not holding regular consultations with the states.

Inaugurating a development summit virtually organized by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies, an economic think tank aligned to the Congress ideology in poll-bound Kerala, the former PM said temporary measures by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India to paper over the credit problem cannot blind us to the looming credit crisis ahead that could affect the small and medium sector.

The summit was organized to launch a Vision Document, a framework of ideas for the development of Kerala well in advance of the state elections.

He said in Kerala and in many other states, public finances are in disarray with states having to resort to excessive borrowing, which creates an intolerable burden on future budgets.

“Federalism and regular consultation with states, which was the cornerstone of India’s economic and political philosophy as enshrined in the constitution, no longer finds favor with the present central government,” he said. Singh said while Kerala’s social standards are high, there are other sectors that need strong attention in the future.

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