Indian PM tells lawmakers to act ‘responsibly’
INDIA: India’s premier urged lawmakers Thursday to engage in
“responsible” debate as the government seeks to push the annual budget
and controversial economic reforms to spur the economy through
parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s appeal came as parliament was to
begin a new session in which the government is due to announce next week
a budget expected to feature the most belt-tightening in years despite
elections looming in 2014.
Past parliamentary sessions have been stormy with lawmakers accusing
the left-leaning Congress government of corruption, resulting in the
passage of little legislation.
“The way we conduct financial business before parliament will be a
crucial test of how we deal with the formidable challenges we face,” he
said, referring to an economy growing at a decade low and sharply
deteriorating public finances.
“It is now a challenge for all of us to take credible action to
ensure we are least affected by global slowdown,” Singh told reporters
as the parliamentary session was about to begin.
“We look forward to responsible dialogue,” he said. India, the
world’s most populous democracy, is struggling to avert a ratings
downgrade of its sovereign debt to junk status due to its worsening
finances and growth expected to be as low as 5.0 percent in the fiscal
year to March 2013.
Expansion is far below the near double-digit levels Asia’s
third-largest economy posted before the onset of the global financial
crisis.
Other key bills slated for the session include measures to hike
foreign investment in insurance, open the pension sector to overseas
investors and supply subsidised grain to India’s hundreds of millions of
poor.
The session was due to kick off with a speech outlining the
government’s legislative programme by recently elected president Pranab
Mukherjee.
AFP |