Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
Our Bureau
New Delhi, Jan 23: Be prepared for a harsh Budget next month, for the government has no soft options to tackle the current economic crisis, finance minister Yashwant Sinha told leaders of major political parties on Saturday.
He was speaking at a meeting of all political parties convened by parliamentary affairs minister Madan Lal Khurana in Parliament House to prepare the schedule for the Budget session, which gets underway on February 22.
Responding to queries from leaders of various political parties, Sinha admitted that the country's economic situation was grim. "There are no soft options before us," he told them.
Barring the Congress, CPI (M) and the Trinamool Congress, all parties sent their representatives for the meeting. "Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar had rung me up three days ago to express his inability in attending it, while former finance minister Manmohan Singh sent a letter offering his suggestions," Khurana told reporters after the meeting.
Referring to thedeliberations of the Inter-State Council meeting held on Friday, Sinha said that at least 12 chief ministers had expressed their concern at the spurt in internal borrowing.
"While the situation arising out of foreign borrowing is not so worrisome, it is the internal borrowing which is causing problems, since most of it is spent on maintaining the establishment," Sinha observed. "The situation has become all the more serious after the implementation of the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission", he said.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------