New Delhi, July 02: Patrician ex-soldier Jaswant Singh, appointed India's new finance minister on Monday, represents the liberal, market-friendly face of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Singh swapped jobs with Yashwant Sinha, who will now take over as external affairs minister after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee reshuffled his government in a bid to overhaul the 33-month-old Hindu nationalist-led coalition.
Analysts say the decision to move Singh, 64, signals a desire to revive economic reforms after an easing in a military standoff with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan.

It also gives Singh the responsibility of bolstering the BJP's public appeal -- which has taken a beating due to some harsh economic measures -- ahead of a series of provincial elections and federal elections due in two years.
Indian markets were neutral to news of the swap though shares and the rupee both gained on Monday, a development analysts credited more to signs of economic recovery rather than the financial reshuffle which was announced after the markets closed.

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Those signs could also provide Singh an advantage as he grapples with economic liberalisation and a gaping budget deficit, a far cry from jet-setting across the world as foreign minister to mobilise global opinion against what New Delhi calls Pakistan-sponsored "terrorism" in Kashmir.
Singh, who breathed diplomacy and foreign affairs and is known for his baritone, measured speaking style, is expected to pursue the broad government programme to deregulate the economy, sell state-run firms and plug the budget deficit that hit 5.7 per cent of GDP in fiscal 2001/02.

Analysts say Singh's shift from foreign affairs has more to do with Sinha, who faced criticism from within the BJP over a failure to sell economic reforms and for policies which alienated the middle classes, the BJP's core constituency.
Bureau Report