Singh Sees Rupee Recovering on Economic Reforms Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended his economic record in one of his strongest attacks on the opposition, saying policy changes in the past year will help stem the rupee’s plunge and revive growth. Speaking in parliament in New Delhi, Singh accused Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers of deliberately stalling proceedings and contributing to India’s economic slowdown by impeding reforms. The measures implemented by the government so far will revive investment and the rupee, he said. “Have you heard of any other country where the members of the opposition walk into the well of the house shouting that the prime minister is a thief?” Singh, 80, said. Steps to tackle current-account and budget deficits, curb some subsidies and speed up infrastructure projects will help currency markets recover, he said. The premier won parliamentary backing this week for two key bills appealing to India’s poor voters as he seeks to return his party to power in elections next year. His second term has been marred by graft scandals, the weakest growth in a decade and recent capital outflows that contributed to the rupee’s 17 percent slide against the dollar this year. Congress lawmakers thumped their desks in approval after Singh said the main opposition party had failed to accept it had lost two consecutive elections and was no longer in power. Graft allegations justified the BJP’s behavior, said Arun Jaitley, the leader of the opposition in the upper house of parliament. Oxford-educated Singh set about freeing the economy of its socialist-era shackles as finance minister in 1991, when India was facing a balance-of-payments crisis. The changes catapulted the nation away from the so-called “Hindu rate of growth” of about 3.5 percent. Expansion (INGDPY) averaged almost 8 percent in the past decade, before the current slowdown that may see growth dip to 3.7 percent in the year ending March 2014, according to BNP Paribas SA. Singh said predictions of 3 percent are unfounded. Foreign investors have pulled money out of emerging markets from India to Brazil on the prospect of cooling U.S. monetary stimulus. India’s economic growth probably held below 5 percent last quarter, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of a report later today. “The macro-stabilization process which should support the value of the rupee is under way,” Singh said. “As the fruits of our efforts materialize, currency markets will recover.” The central bank will focus on damping inflation, he said. The rupee strengthened 0.7 percent to 66.1250 per dollar as of 3:44 p.m. in Mumbai, climbing for a second day after the Reserve Bank of India said it will supply dollars to the largest oil importers to cool foreign-exchange demand.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 11:07:03 +0000
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