Mumbai, May 25: Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Monday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Rs 20 lakh crore economic package to tide over the economic slowdown due to the coronavirus outbreak a "jumla" (poll rhetoric) and claimed the Centre would be spending just 1 per cent of GDP and not 10 per cent as the NDA government has stated.

Chavan, a former Maharashtra chief minister, spent several years as a minister in the PMO in the Manmohan Singh- led UPA government.

Also Read | Work From Home to Impact Office Space Demand in Short-Term, Say Experts.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is thumping his chest about the Atmanirbhar campaign and Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package. In fact, only Rs 2 lakh crore is going to be used to increase spending capacity, which will create very less demand in the market. The rest Rs 18 lakh crore is nothing but various schemes of borrowing," he told reporters. Chavan, incidentally, had demanded a Rs 21 lakh crore package in April this year.

Also Read | Bhopal: 48-Year-Old COVID-19 Suspect Commits Suicide by Hanging Himself From a Tree.

"Ten world renowned financial institutions have said actual spending in Modi's stimulus package would be around 0.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent. It exposes the hollowness of the stimulus package," Chavan said. PM Narendra Modi Announces Rs 20 Lakh Crore Economic Package to Revive Indian Economy Amid COVID-19 Crisis; Details to be Shared by Finance Ministry From Tomorrow.

He said during the economic crisis in 2008, there was the leadership of Manmohan Singh to guide the nation, while there was no such hope from the Modi government.

"Nobody believes Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman can bring the country out of this crisis," Chavan said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)