New Delhi, Nov 09: With the return of a feel-good factor after a favourable monsoon this year, an upbeat Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has said the economy was now "rolling".
"The economy is now rolling. The feel-good factor has returned in the last three or four months, he said in an interview.
"I have faith in India, in Indian genius and creativity. We should, as countrymen, shed this notion that we are afflicted by want," Singh said without giving any projections of higher growth this year.
Jaswant Singh said in his previous avatar of external affairs minister was able to successfully present India as "blue chip" country after the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998 only because of the inherent strength and resilience of the economy.
He also acknowledged the contributions of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao and former finance minister Manmohan Singh for initiating the reform process that has enabled the economy to come out of "shibboleth" of socialistic doctrine in which the country was "trapped" for decades.
Bureau Report