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Questions Montek Singh Ahluwalia didn't answer

man (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:37 IST)
montek, Aren't you slow like the economy. Only promises, no action.

chandy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:37 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia - As a student of economics I appreciate the move to give tax incentive to boost employment. Why did it take us so long to adopt this strategy?

sainarasimhan (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:37 IST)
Mr. Ahluwalia: Does the government have any plans to autonomise the RBI along the lines of the US Federal Reserve, Bundesbank, Bank of England? If so, what would be the RBI's one line mandate?

Suman (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:38 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia: What steps are you taking to ensure uninterrupted power supply in India. And especially, Delhi?

Sujata (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:38 IST)
with Indian Airlines being opened to the pvt sector, it is rather unlikely that there will be any takers for Air India now. ur comments?

Vivek Rao (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:39 IST)
Sir Thank you for your response. Bu the rating agencies like S&P and Moods continue to downgrade India's rating. This will have an impact on foreign capital inflow. Thereby making the impact of the sanctions anything but marginal. Is the MOF doing anything to reassure the credit agencies. Thank you once again.

Manish (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:39 IST)
Montek Singh Ji, What has happened to the Govt plan of reduction of Govt expenditure on the Bureaucracy ?

goel (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:39 IST)
Come on Mr, Singh, you are evading the issues of fiscal deficit and exit policy for labor and industry. can you throw some lite please?

Ajoy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:40 IST)
What would you say to me, if I were to tell you that as a consequence of bureaucracy a permission for setting up took me two years (!!!) for absolutely no logical reason. As a consequence, the Swiss Franc, on which I was dependent for import of machinery, shot up more that 4 times, my project became unviable, the Financial Institutions have take possession of the machinery and there is not a damn thing I can do! Also, it was due to no doing of mine, and now the consequences are mine to pay! Is this fair?

Manish (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:40 IST)
Montek Singh Ji, What has happened to the Govt plan for reduction of Govt expenditure on the Bureaucracy ?

ganesh (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:42 IST)
May be we should take a break to help Mr. Singh read and answer the questions.

biggoal (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:42 IST)
hi Montek, could you tell when is govt going for full convertibility?

DKP (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:42 IST)
Sir,,, would you personally allocate more funds for national defence or for improving the economy?

man (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:42 IST)
why has the share market reacted so badly to your budget ?

Sujata (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:43 IST)
since this govt purports to be infotech-friendly, what steps will you take to promote the development and export of software products from India?

Ajoy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:43 IST)
To be honest, I do not know if my status as an NRI will help me run a company that was started by my father. It is not as a returning NRI that I would like to open communication channels but rather, as a representation of all young, enthusiastic, but not so influential businessmen, I would like to be given the time that is due to me as a business owner or to put it more succinctly, as a contributor to the GDP of our(?) nation!

vasudeo (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:43 IST)
car and npa norms should be included in RBI policy and not in the BUDGET

hemanthshareef (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:43 IST)
is samman yet another form of vdis?

vicky (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:43 IST)
we are manufacturer of Mech. seals but it id not covered under the DEPB scheme

Manish (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:44 IST)
Montek Singh Ji, Why doesn't the Govt permit a few high profile Joint Ventures with foreign companies, like TATA-SIA airlines venture to send the right signals abroad ? Won't this be better than mere talking points in the Budget?

biggoal (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:44 IST)
Montek, how would you check the fiscal deficit which is going out of bounds, and there is where the concern is?

Sammy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:44 IST)
Sir what is the message of this budget?

man (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:45 IST)
why should a person honestly pay taxes when vdis is being brought in a very different form ? samadhan

Ramesh (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:46 IST)
Mr. Ahluwalia, Is it not time for India and Pakistan to concentrate our attention on alleviating poverty of land numbers of people in our respective countries instead of indulging in adolescent behaviour of spending money on bombs?

chandy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:46 IST)
Mr. Ahluwalia - I repeat - the union budget does not have an estimate for the monetised deficit or the extent of support from RBI to the government borrowing programme? Can we have the estimate?

Sammy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:47 IST)
sir did the sanctions cause any restructuring of the budget?

Ajoy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:47 IST)
Montek Singhji, Manish has a very pertinent point. It would be appreciated if we could have a response as to why the TATA-SIA venture fell through. Inside info tells me that it was as simple as Air India/Ind. Airlines not wanting to deal with competition that would wipe them out! I would really like to hear an honest response and not a diplomatic one!

man (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:48 IST)
what is the point in inviting foreign cos and then driving them out with 8% import duties.

Sammy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:49 IST)
in addition to what Ajoy is saying i feel the govt goes out of its way to protect psus

Sujata (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:49 IST)
Mr. Singh, are you evading my questions?

Deficit (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:49 IST)
On the Rediff Budget Day Chat , a representative from one of the foreign insurance companies said joint venture insurance companies would be permitted to enter the insurance sector. Day before yesterday, the FM had a different POV. Could you please clarify? Is the finance ministry treading warily, lest it be caught up in a vicious war with the Opposition?

goel (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:50 IST)
In terms of monetised deficit, we are already above the first half of the fiscal year limit. Your comments?

chandy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:50 IST)
Mr. Ahluwalia - the money supply figures have gone hay wire.... u would like to believe that inflation is not a monetary phenomenon.... Can i have an answer ....the union budget does not have an estimate for the monetised deficit or the extent of support from RBI to the government borrowing programme? Can we have the estimate? U are already making a mockery of system of WMA by using it as a means of funding...

Ajoy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:50 IST)
Sir, if one were to view this chat session with objectivity, don't you think that despite FICCI/CII's welcoming the Budget, there seems to be a lot of uncertainty, confusion, and yes, event to a certain extent, anger? How does the Ministry respond to that?

man (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:50 IST)
montek ? montekl ? are you there ?

Sanjai (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:51 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia -- there are many Western countries who give fast-track priority on immigration to those who bring heavy investment with them. Right now the Indian govt is talking about giving some type of honorary dual citizenship to NRIs. Can't the govt make heavy investment in India a requirement for such status??

Manish (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:52 IST)
Montek Singh Ji, Why doesn't the Govt permit a few high profile Joint Ventures with foreign companies, like TATA-SIA airlines venture to send the right signals abroad ? Won't this be better than mere talking points in the Budget?

chandy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:52 IST)
Mr. Ahluwalia - hope u appreciate the importance of the question... RBI officials I understand are spending sleepless nights....Do i understand that ur silence implies that govt does not have an estimate? the money supply figures have gone hay wire.... u would like to believe that inflation is not a monetary phenomenon.... Can i have an answer ....the union budget does not have an estimate for the monetised deficit or the extent of suuport from RBI to the government borrowing programme? Can we have the estimate? U are already making a mockery of system of WMA by using it as a means of funding...

Suman (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:53 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia: What is the status of the internal debt and external debt. I remember reading an article in a newspaper that India is heading for a debt trap?

Ajoy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:53 IST)
Sir, I must admit that whilst none of my comments/queries were responded to (but for one) it was still satisfying since I vented a bit. I hope that, in the future, we would be able to have an opportunity such that persons like myself are able to make a personal representation to you about the basket of problems that seems to have landed in our laps. I hope that, with this short conversation, you will still remember a returning NRI for his patriotic will despite advice received to the contrary! Thank you and goodbye!

Sanjai (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:53 IST)
Ramesh: isn't it time to stop calling legitimate national security interests mere adolescent antics? Isn't yours the immature attitude?

goel (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:55 IST)
Government spending is the most inefficient way of allocation of capital known to man, you will agree? By raising tariff barriers, you are doing nothing but perpetuating inefficiencies in the private sector? Why should you allow scare resources to be frittered away and consumers given a short shrift. We need capital and we should have aggressively invited foreign investment. Your comment?

Sanjai (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:56 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia: What is the basis for the criticism of the opening of the insurance markets? After all, won't this increase the ability to raise capital for larger-scale projects?

johnny (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:56 IST)
what would be the prospects of the goi divesting its stake in the psu's directly in the int'l mkts - to address both the divestments and the fx reserves to combat sanctions

Suman (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:57 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia: Any website address of the Finance ministry for Economic Survey of India?

chandy (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:58 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia - Ref : the monetised deficit - hope u have heard of a concept called ex ante monetised deficit?

Sanjai (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:59 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia: In your view, what are the most critical areas that have to be tackled, as a next step in liberalization?

Sujata (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:59 IST)
mr singh, u seem to be aware of the revenue the infotech industry can generate for the country. however, the provisions made for this industry in the current budget (both software and hardware) is too little to encourage the players in this sector.

dmohoni (Fri Jun 5 1998 7:59 IST)
The government has been selling PSU stocks to finance budgets. Would it not be a lot healthier to reduce the government's debt from the proceeds?

Suman (Fri Jun 5 1998 8:0 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia: Is it true that the finance ministries are cutting down the subsidies and as a result of which the farmers all over are committing suicide?

Swadeshi (Fri Jun 5 1998 8:1 IST)
Mr Ahluwalia: For the last three years whenever I have had the good fortune to chat with you in this forum, you have assured me that the government is committed to fighting poverty. Yet I see no tangible sign of it on the streets of Bombay where I used to live. I also read with despair last evening that 320 million Indians live below the poverty level in this country. Now that is depressing. What anti-poverty initiatives have been enlisted in the Budget? And why has your government been unable to combat poverty?