PM to FinMin: Revive ‘animal spirit’
Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in direct charge of the finance ministry again, swung into action Wednesday and directed officials to “revive the animal spirit in the country’s economy”.
In the morning he met Economic Advisory Council chief C. Rangarajan and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia separately. In the evening he met all five finance ministry secretaries — R. Gopalan, R.S. Gujral, Sumit Bose, D.K. Mittal and Haleem Khan — and chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu to plan the strategy for revival.
Dr Singh said there was a need to revive investor sentiment, both domestic and international. “Reverse the climate of pessimism,” he told officials. To check the rupee’s fall, Dr Singh said immediate emphasis should be put on managing balance of payments.
“Investor sentiment is down and capital flows are drying up,” he said. Many factors contributed to this negative mood, he said: “There are problems on the tax front which need addressing.” While external factors existed, “there are many domestic reasons as well. We need to address these quickly. We (must) get the economy going again and restart the India growth story.”
Mr Pulok Chatterjee, principal secretary to the PM, was among the officials present.
“I’m happy to meet all of you... Apart from a brief spell in 2008, I’ve been away from the nitty-gritty of finance for a long time. I depend on all of you to give me sound advice,” Dr Singh said.
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