Pranab promises nation parting gift

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Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said the government would unveil on Monday measures to improve market conditions.

“The steps we have taken ... and we will be able to take certain measures to be announced on Monday which will improve market conditions,” he said in Kolkata before leaving for his ancestral home in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

Secretary in the department of economic affairs R. Gopalan had on Friday consulted Reserve Bank of India governor D. Subbarao about the measures underway, he added.

Mr Mukherjee, who would be resigning as Union finance minister on June 26, expressed concern about the sharp depreciation in the rupee and inflationary pressure. But he said he was not depressed.

“I would like to say GDP (growth) is at 6.5 per cent. There is inflationary pressure on the economy, there is the depreciation of the rupee. These are, no doubt, signs of weakness in the Indian economy ... I am concerned, but I am not depressed,” he added.

Mr Mukherjee blamed the global economic crisis for India’s fiscal woes.

“Please remember that when the whole world is in turmoil no country can expect that there will be pockets of development, and particularly a large economy like India, which is the third largest in terms of purchasing power parity, cannot remain insulated from external factors,” he said.