Congress for selective approach to reforms

     Hyderabad: Pledging its commitment to speed up reforms in the sectors like telecom, automobiles and airlines, the Congress party today advocated selective and case-by-case approach on disinvestment and other key issues of economic reforms. "The party is committed to carry forward reforms with a pragmatic approach and a mix of public intervention and private enterprise to make India an economic superpower in the next decade," a draft resolution on economic affairs, presented before the 82nd Plenary session said.     

    Talking to mediapersons, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said that the government's asset sale programme was not on the backburner "Disinvestment is not on the backburner. We are not pursing disinvestment for the sake of disinvestment as the previous government did nor are we inclined to dismantle the public sector. All that we are saying that in the case of non-navratna companies, where the government's stake is either 100 per cent or pretty high, we will disinvest small portions of equity and put those resources in the national investment fund," he said. Chidambaram however clarified that his ministry will ensure that under no circumstances the fund from the public sector would be used for meeting revenue expenditure. On economic growth, he said that it was likely to remain higher than the earlier estimate of 7 percent. "Last year, the economy recorded a growth rate of 6.9 percent but I believe when the final figures come, after making the necessary adjustments, perhaps it is likely to be close to 7 percent," he said. "In the current year, we started by saying that we should aim to achieve a growth rate of not less than 7 percent. I still maintain that we will maintain a growth rate of 7 per cent," added Chidambaram. He also emphasised that inflation was under control despite unprecedented rise in global crude oil price.

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