Prime Minister’s speech on 6th March 2013

PRIME MINISTER (DR. MANMOHAN SINGH):
Madam Speaker, I rise to join all Members of this august House in conveying our sincere thanks to Hon.President for his enlightened Address. The debate on the President’s Address has been vigorous and wide ranging. I thank all the hon. Members who have contributed to this debate.

Madam, as hon. President mentioned in the initial parts of his Address, our economy has faced a difficult situation in the past one year. Hon. Members are aware that our growth has slowed down and the fiscal deficit has risen. Inflation has been a persistent problem in the last two years. The Current Account Deficit is substantially higher than what we would like it to be. The Finance Minister has dealt with all these issues in his Budget speech, and before that the Economic Survey tabled in this House gave a fairly comprehensive picture of the state of the economy. I would therefore be brief in speaking about the challenges that confront our economy and what we need to do to overcome them. [Read More…]