New Delhi, Feb 16: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
on Monday received accolades from his predecessor P Chidambaram
for exhibiting confidence and upbeat spirit to beat the
economic downturn, even as he presented the interim budget in
a difficult year.
"Mukherjee's Budget speech captures the exciting story of
growth over the first four years of the UPA Government, the
determination and resilience with which the Government has
navigated the current difficult year and above all, the can-do
spirit with which we can look forward to the future," Home
Minister Chidambaram said in a statement here.
He said that Mukherjee had before him an unenviable task
of presenting an interim Budget at the end of a difficult year
on account of the global financial crisis.
"It is, however, a matter of satisfaction that the
Indian economy has weathered the global crisis reasonably well
and is expected to post a growth rate of 7.1 per cent in
2008-09," he said.
Chidambaram noted that the numbers in the interim budget
would necessarily undergo change when the regular budget is
presented. "What is noteworthy is that the UPA Government
continues to repose faith in its policy of 'faster and more
inclusive growth', a policy that has brought unprecedented
development and a marked rise in welfare for all sections of
the society since 2004-05," Chidambaram said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, February 16, 2009, 00:00