New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said India is not heading
back to a 1991-like crisis, when the country was forced to pledge its
gold to pay import bills, and the economy would expand by 5.5 percent in
the current fiscal.
“There is no reason to believe that we are going down the hill and that 1991 is on the horizon,” the prime minister said in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament.
Manmohan Singh pointed out that India has around USD 280 billion of foreign exchange reserve, which is sufficient to finance nearly seven months of imports.
In 1991, India's foreign exchange reserve had fallen to USD 3 billion, not enough even to cover three weeks of imports. The country was forced to pledge its gold with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to pay its bills.
“There is no reason to believe that we are going down the hill and that 1991 is on the horizon,” the prime minister said in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament.
Manmohan Singh pointed out that India has around USD 280 billion of foreign exchange reserve, which is sufficient to finance nearly seven months of imports.
In 1991, India's foreign exchange reserve had fallen to USD 3 billion, not enough even to cover three weeks of imports. The country was forced to pledge its gold with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to pay its bills.