Chidambaram says need to stabilise rupee but have to support growth: highlights

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today addressed a press conference amidst concerns surrounding the free-falling rupee which has come dangerously close to hitting the all-time low of 61.21.. Here are the highlights:. As far as agriculture is concerned so far it has been very good It is 16 per cent more than the normal average Confident that services sector will post as good a growth as last year if not better Demand for credit is sluggish in big industries 157 projects cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) worth1,60,900 crore Price of credit is indeed high but it is not so dauntingly high that it should deter investments Ample funds are available with banks Last tear concern of fiscal deficit was upper most on everyone's mind We have already financed current account deficit by $88 billion We will be able to fully finance current account deficit this year too We hope to contain gold imports at a level well below last year and save considerable amount of foreign exchange which will have a positive impact on current account deficit Government is actively considering liberalising FDI Longer term external commercial borrowings (ECBs) to be liberalised in consultaion with RBI--to raise more money on a sustainable basis We must revive investment and industry must play its part We will ask some public sector companies to raise funds abroad When the global economy is a challenge, Indian economy also faces a challenge In the last two weeks RBI in consultation with the government has taken a number of measures to support the rupee I think we need to stabilise the rupee and going forward we have to support growth The rupee depreciation of June, July was quite unexpected Soverign bond issue is an option on the table, but we will not rush into a decision Rupee's level today is not the final level, rupee strengthened to 58-59 a few days ago On the subsidy bill we will make the calculations as we go along A number of factors will decide the subsidy bill This year we are planning to increase revenues by 21 per cent We will achieve our disinvestment target Fiscal deficit this year will be contained to 4.8 per cent We will raise money abroad, because many of our PSUs have a strong balance sheet to raise money abroad The June and July gold imports are less than last year Last year it was 845 metric tonnes, this year we will try to keep it below it There is no level for the rupee, what we want is a stable currency A country that has fiscal deficit and inflation must accept some depreciation of currency We don't want anyone taking advantage of what the Fed chairman says On August 3 will meet leaders of opposition on Insurance Bill We want to stabilise the rupee, reduce volatility We don't want speculation drive the rupee I promise we will tackle current account deficit this year too FDI in multi-brand retail has not come to India but that is not to say that FDI has not come to India FDI in multi-brand retail is being held back because there are some pertinent questions The clarifications should be issued in the next few days on FDI in multi-brand retail and after that we can expect first investment in multi-brand retail We are in earch and selection mode--for the next RBI Governor

Chidambaram says need to stabilise rupee but have to support growth: highlights

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