CSO a professional body, even IMF accepts its data: Jaitley

New Delhi, Sep 7 (PTI) Rejecting criticism of GDP numbers,Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the CSO is aprofessional organisation and its data is accepted by leadinginternational oraganisations like the IMF. "We have a convention in India and a practice, which theCSO has followed throughout. I don’t think the professionalismof the CSO has even been called into question. "They are a very responsible and professionalorganisation. They revise their methodologies and at the endof the day various international institutions most importantlythe IMF accepts their data," he said. Jaitley was responding to a question on a report in aninternational publication in which it was suggested thatIndia’s growth was 4.3 per cent if calculated on oldmethodology. The Central Statistical Office (CSO), which tabulates thedata on national income, has estimated the growth rate for2015-16 at 7.6 per cent based on the new methodology. The GDP growth was 7.1 per cent in the first quarter ofthe current fiscal. "Please don’t forget once you revise it with effect to aparticular cut-off date, and thereafter you use the sameformulation and increases would be measured in the sameformulations itself. "And I think if you actually see the extent of activitiesgoing on in India, probably this kind of analysis, of courseeconomists are free to make an analysis, would not be a veryfair comment," the finance minister said. PTI DP NKD CSABK