Former finance minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday predicted a verbal attack by the government on International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath for her comments on the slide in the Indian economy.

Chidambaram tweeted: “Reality check from IMF. Growth in 2019-20 will be below five per cent, at 4.8 per cent. Even the 4.8% is after some window dressing. I will not be surprised if it goes even lower. IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath was one of the first to denounce demonetisation. I suppose we must prepare ourselves for an attack by Government ministers on the IMF and Dr Gita Gopinath.”

Ministers usually react angrily to such observations but no minister has reacted so far to the IMF projections.

Even BJP leaders have so far shown uncharacteristic restraint though lesser mortals took to Twitter to flay the IMF chief economist.

The Congress, however, grabbed the opportunity to attack the government.

The party posted this message on its official Twitter handle: “IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath has made it abundantly clear that India’s slowdown is affecting the global economy. Top economists from across the world have criticised the BJP Government’s policies & urged them to take immediate action.”

Asked about the controversy, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said: “The IMF chief economist said India’s declining GDP growth is a drag on global economy. We say the actions of the Prime Minister and the home minister are a drag on India’s democracy.”