India In Focus - INDIAN ECONOMY: OVERVIEW, GROWTH and DEVELOPMENT - PMO 'unaware' of implications of sovereign debt is a specious argument.

• Position: Prime Minister's Office

As both the finance ministry and former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg stay mum on what led to his exit from the North Block, sources inform that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had not been 'properly' briefed about consequences of the external borrowing in dollar-denominated bonds. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in her Budget speech that the government would borrow in foreign currency to finance the budget deficit.

Three different officials confirmed that Garg did not 'properly' apprise PMO of the consequences of borrowing in external currency. These officials contended that Garg did not inform them that the issue had not been consulted with stakeholders before it was made part of the Budget...