Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the government borrowing money from the RBI.

After Rahul Gandhi accused the government of "stealing money from the RBI", Sitharaman said the Congress was an "expert on stealing".

Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Rahul Gandhi says chor [thief], I won't say the same word. The Congress is stuck with the chor tag, they are experts in using this word. I would have wanted Congress to not sully RBI's reputation."

"Whenever Rahul Gandhi raises things like 'chor,chori,' one thing comes to my mind, he tried his best 'chor, chor,chori,' but the public gave him befitting reply. What's the point of using the same words again?" Nirmala Sitharaman said.

She accused the Congress of maligning the reputation of the Reserved Bank of India. "This was a committee appointed by RBI, outlandish is the word that I will use for the way comments are being made on RBI's reputation. It is worrying that a committee appointed by RBI experts is now being questioned," Nirmala Sitharaman exclaimed.

Rahul Gandhi accuses govt of stealing

On Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the government over the record cash transfer by the RBI, saying the prime minister and the finance minister are "clueless" about solving the "self-created economic disaster" and accused them of "stealing money" from the Bank.

He said the move was like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary and sticking it on a gunshot wound.

Gandhi's reaction came after the RBI allowed the government to take Rs 1.76 lakh crore from its reserves to provide a fresh impetus to the economy.

Talking on a separate issue, Sitharaman also said that government wants businessmen and entrepreneurs to work without worry. She said that government has requested tax officials not to over-reach for meeting the revenue targets.