Prime Minister rules out possibility of witnessing a repeat of 1991 financial crisis

19 Aug 2013 Evaluate

Reassuring investors that there would be no reversing the path of globalisation of Indian economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ruled out the possibility of India witnessing a repeat of the 1991 balance of payments crisis, which had forced India to pledge its gold reserves abroad to raise foreign exchange.

Manmohan Singh said that there is no question of going back to1991 balance of payment crisis as at that time foreign exchange in India was a fixed rate, but now it is linked to market, thereby we only have to correct the rupee volatility. By adding further, Prime Minister said that in 1991, the country had only foreign exchange reserves for 15 days and now we have reserves of six to seven months. Regarding the high current account deficit (CAD) of the country, he said that high import of gold was one of the major factors contributing to it.

India’s CAD widened to a record high of 4.8 percent of GDP in the previous year on account high gold imports. India imported 845 tonnes of yellow metal in FY13. Meanwhile, during the April-June quarter of 2013, the country witnessed record gold imports of 310 tonnes, highest in the last ten years. Further, widening CAD is also putting pressure on Rupee, which recently depreciated to a record low of over 62 per dollar. Meanwhile, in order to curb the gold import, the government has taken several steps, including raising import duty. Recently, the government has hiked imports duty on gold for a third time in eight months to 10% from the earlier 8%. RBI also imposed restrictions on import of gold coins, medallions and dorebars and notified that gold importers would now require licence from Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).   

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