Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday tried to assuage fears of the industry and expressed concerns over the slowdown in the economy and
volatility in foreign exchange market .
He admitted that the economy was going through a difficult period and assured the industry that government will leave no stone unturned to ensure a rebound.
Singh attributed the rupee decline to widening Current Account Deficit (CAD) and global factors and hoped that the steps taken by the Reserve Bank to arrest fall of domestic currency would be reversed with the easing of speculative pressure.
As regards the economy, he said though basic fundamentals are sound and stable, the growth rate in the current financial year is likely to be lower than 6.5 per cent estimated at the time of presentation of the Budget this year.
"We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the economy rebounds. I appeal to each one of you not to be overcome by negative sentiment," Singh said while addressing the annual meeting of industry body Assocham.
"Let me begin by stating upfront that we, like most other countries, are going through a difficult period... It (industry) is looking to the government to bring the economy back to a higher growth path. This is a legitimate expectation and is also upper most in our mind," he said.
The Prime Minister assured the industry the government will remain pro-active in ensuring economic rebound.
"When things are going well, government should interfere as little as possible. When things go badly, as they seem to be at present, it is the responsibility of the government to become pro-active," Singh said.
Here are a few highlights from his address:- Most immediate cause of worry is volatility in foreign exchange market
- We need to reduce import of gold and demand for petroleum products
- Steps recently taken by RBI do not signal increase in interest rate in long term
- Use all policy measures to bring down Current Account Deficit (CAD)
- Basic fundamentals of economy are sound and stable
- CAD in 2013-14 will be much lower than 4.7 per cent recorded in the previous fiscal
- Impact of initiatives taken by the government will be felt in the second half of the current fiscal
- Economic growth in the current fiscal likely to be lower than 6.5 per cent estimated at the time of budget
- We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that economy rebounds
- Poverty declined by 2 per cent during 2004-05 and 2011-12
- RBI will consider reversing steps, once the speculative pressure on rupee is contained
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 
Special 
