The government is looking at divesting a small portion of equity in profit making public sector enterprises other than the 'Navratnas', Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday. "We have had discussions about divesting small portions of equity in selective profit making public sector enterprises other than the Navratnas," he said.
The fall in Rupee is not a cause of concern for the government at the moment, he added. "We have always said that orderly movements in both ways is acceptable. It is only disorderly movement which should cause concern," Chidambaram said.
The rupee has over the past few months depreciated against the Yen, Pound and Euro. It has only appreciated against the dollar and that is because the Dollar has appreciated very strongly against the Euro, he added.
Asked whether fuel prices would have an impact on inflation, Chidambaram said it was likely to have an effect.
"As we said before, the pass through of fuel prices will have an impact on inflation. Inflation is roughly now at around 4.4 per cent. RBI Governor and I have said that we expect inflation to be around five per cent and that is unavoidable," Chidambaram said.
The Finance Minister was also confident about sustaining trade deficit at the current levels. "We can sustain trade deficit at the current levels which means that capital goods are imported and that is good," Chidambaram said.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|