Indian Economy Unaffected By Sept 11 Events : Jaswant

The trend in the Indian stock market suggests that the events of September 11 have not affected the Indian economy in any significant way, minister of external affairs Jaswant Singh told the Rajya Sabha today.

However, he admitted that stock indices were not the best way of measuring the buoyancy of the economy. Singh was standing in for finance minister Yashwant Sinha during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha. This indicates a slight change from the government's declared policy that the Afghanistan war would have no effect on the Indian economy.

In early October when the bombing of Afghanistan began, the finance minister said there was no reason for the government "to rush into the market" and that a package for the markets to insulate them from the war in the neighbourhood was ready (October 9).

On that occasion, Sinha said: "Apart from some decline in the stock market and a little pressure on the rupee, nothing else had happened".

Jaswant Singh today said GDP growth projection during the current year was along expected lines.

"Though there have been uncertainties in our economy and many countries following the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, there is an inherent strength in the Indian economy that helps in meeting the challenges,'' Singh said adding there were signs of a recovery in the global economy and consumer spending in the US was on the rise. Singh said the rise in the stock indices in the Indian bourses augured well for the economy and the Bombay Stock Exchange had started on a positive note after the muhurat Diwali trading.