Warning that India’s economy is “challenged”, Union finance minister P. Chidambaram said on Monday that without reforms there was a risk of a sharp and continuing slowdown of the economy.
However, Mr Chidam-baram expressed hope that the GDP would accelerate in coming quarters above the 5.5 per cent growth seen in the first three months of this fiscal. He said investment by industry is also expected to pick up from the third and fourth quarters and that the business mood would change. “Let me tell you the plain truth. Without reforms, we risk a sharp and continuing slowdown of the economy which we can’t afford given the imperative need to generate jobs and incomes for a large population, most of whom are young,” Mr Chidambaram said at the Economic Editors’ Conference.
He said each decision to allow foreign investment should be tested not on the basis of some undefined ideology or theory, “but on a clear-headed assessment of the advantages that will accrue to India”. “I have no doubt in my mind that recent decisions ... will benefit the economy and the country,” he said.
“Opposition to policies is legitimate, obstructionism is not. The government of the day must be allowed to lay down policies, pass legislation ... and get on with the job...,” he added.
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IOC CUTS PETROL PRICE BY 56 PAISE
Age Correspondent
New Delhi, Oct. 8
Petrol will be cheaper by 56 paise per litre, excluding state taxes, from Monday midnight due to the appreciation in the rupee’s value against the US dollar.
“It has been decided to revise petrol prices downward by `0.56 per litre (excluding state levies in Delhi) with effect from October 9,” IOC said in a press statement here. HPCL and BPCL are expected to follow suit and cut petrol prices. However, prices will vary by one or two paise. This is being done to avoid allegations that state-owned oil companies are acting as a cartel, which leaves them open to action by the Competition Commission of India. Petrol will now cost `67.90/ litre at IOC petrol pumps.