Pinning hopes on a bumper harvest, export recovery and sliding gold imports, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said green shoots are visible and the govt will be able to lower the current account deficit to below USD 60 billion.The minister, however, said containing inflation and reviving investment will remain a challenge.Addressing a press conference a day after the government released data showing the Index of Eight Core Industries grew at an 11-month high of 8 percent in September, Chidambaram impressed upon India Inc to move ahead with their investments and not to sit on cash.Chidambaram said the government will endeavour to get the long-pending insurance amendment bill passed in the winter session of Parliament. The bill seeks to raise FDI in the sector to 49 percent from 26 percent.Draft amendments to the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) have been finalised and will be placed before the Cabinet for approval, he said.Chidambaram said that he was hopeful of reducing the current account deficit (CAD) to USD 60 billion from the earlier estimate of USD 70 billion.The CAD is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.The CAD touched the all-time high of USD 88.2 billion, or 4.8 percent of GDP, in 2012-13.Referring to the rise in prices, Chidambaram said the good monsoon and subsequent bumper agricultural output will improve the inflationary situation.Recalling his recent US visit, he said, "I got the impression that they continue to retain faith in India's economy and that the investment cycle, which in my view is revived, will only gain momentum in the next few weeks and months."The minister said the rupee, in his view, is still a little over the appropriate exchange rate.The local currency, which dipped to a historic low of 68.85 to a dollar in late August, has recovered and closed at 61.74 on Friday.The minister said the rupee is "by and large stabilised. But in my view it is still a little over what I would consider the appropriate exchange rate. There is no such thing called appropriate exchange rate, but…it is slightly over the appropriate exchange rate level."To a question on the retrospective tax issue, he said amendments to the Income Tax Act will be introduced in Parliament only after resolving the Rs 11,200 crore Vodafone tax case.British telecom major Vodafone faces a tax liability of over Rs 11,200 crore, along with interest, on its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa's stake in Hutchison Essar.Following a retrospective amendment to the Income Tax Act in 2012, the government has sought a non-binding conciliation with Vodafone to resolve the tax issue."The question is how we move forward…Amendment (to the IT Act) has to be moved but I can move that amendment only after the Vodafone case is resolved," he said.Chidambaram defended the Reserve Bank's decision to raise the short-term lending (repo) rate by 0.50 percent in two tranches, saying it had to be viewed in the context of inflation and the depreciating rupee."The market seems to be very happy. More than anyone else, the market seems to welcome the RBI and government measures…but I would caution investors against excessive exuberance," he said.The benchmark BSE Sensex scaled a lifetime high on the last day of the Hindu Samvat year 2069 and ended at a fresh closing record of 21,196.81 on Friday amid continued foreign fund buying and renewed optimism about the economy.The RBI raised the short-term lending rate in two successive monetary policy reviews to contain inflation. It also cut the marginal standing facility rate, an additional borrowing window for banks, as it reversed steps introduced in July to curb currency volatility.To counter the rupee's decline by attracting foreign exchange, the RBI opened a swap window facility to encourage NRI deposits.It also allowed banks to raise capital abroad to the tune of 100 percent of their Tier I equity capital."As of end of October, we have USD 13.3 billion coming in under these two windows," Chidambaram said.Under Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) accounts, which can be opened by non-resident Indians, USD 8.457 billion has come, while banks have mobilised USD 4.84 billion in borrowings against Tier I capital, he said."The windows are open till November 30. Going by the rate at which the flows have come in, I would expect that the banks are able to mobilise around USD 20 billion before the end of November," he said.On attracting investments from global multi-brand retail companies, Chidambaram said, "One or two multi-brand retailers will enter the market sooner than later."After the government opened multi-brand retail to foreign investment in September last year, it has yet to receive a proposal from any global company. Source: DD News