Asked about budgetary measures in the offing that were designed to deal with the economic situation, he simply remarked that one-line replies often led to "misunderstanding of economic policies."

Mr Sinha was talking to newspersons a day after the Cabinet decided to promulgate an ordinance to impose a 2 per cent additional surcharge on income and corporate taxes which is expected to mobilise Rs 1,300 crore this fiscal for reconstruction and rehabilitation work in Gujarat.

He had, earlier in the week, termed as speculative media reports of a likely tax imposition to raise resources for relief measures in quake-hit Gujarat. He also declined to comment on any possible cut in the bank rate following the Fed rate cut in the US.

Earlier, delivering the keynote address at the Asia Pacific Region Micro-credit Summit in New Delhi, Mr Sinha said that the report of a task force set up by Nabard was being considered by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The RBI has completely deregulated the interest on loans given by banks to intermediate microfinance institutions, he said. The task force had estimated that the micro-credit business alone was of the size of Rs 30,000 crore.