Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said that he will make a statement in Parliament tomorrow on the country’s economic situation. Responding to demands by several opposition members in the Rajya Sabha today, Dr Singh said it cannot be denied that the country is faced with a difficult time. The Prime Minister attributed the situation to several domestic and international factors. He said the situation in the US and the tensions in Syria have inevitable consequences on the oil prices.
Earlier, as soon as the House met for the day, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley raised the issue demanding a statement by Prime Minister outlining the steps the government is contemplating to tackle the
situation.
Meanwhile, responding to a query by some opposition members, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma clarified that he has not suggested the auction or mortgaging the country’s gold.
The issue also surfaced in the Lok Sabha with opposition members expressing concern on the continuous devaluation of the rupee leading to adjournment of the House till 12 noon. Raising the issue as soon as the House met for the day, Leader of Opposition Mrs Sushma Swaraj asked the Prime Minister to come to the House to make a statement. She said rupee is just not a currency but country’s image is linked to it.
She criticised Finance Minister P Chidambaram for holding political differences on economic issues responsible for the current crisis.
Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh blamed the economic policies pursued by the government for the fall of rupee. Responding to members’ concern, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath informed the members that Prime Minister will make a statement tomorrow. Not satisfied with the response of the government, entire opposition wanted Prime Minister’s statement immediately. This led to uproar in the House forcing its adjournment by Speaker Meira Kumar till noon.