Modi govt's performance mixed; rupee, NPAs cause for concern: Bimal Jalan

Former RBI governor Bimal Jalan said the government should adopt a cautious approach with regard to minimum support price

Terming the Modi government's performance as a mixed story, former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan on Sunday said the declining value of rupee and high non-performing assets continue to remain a cause for concern.  

On the non-economic front, Jalan said the country is still suffering from mis-governance, civil protests in several states over different issues and non-secular announcements.    

Talking about economic measures, he said the Narendra Modi-led government has launched several reforms, including the GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and direct benefit transfer scheme, which are good for the economy.  

"There is no doubt that our growth rates are one of the highest in emerging markets; inflation is low," he told PTI in an interview.

Jalan, who was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 2003 to 2009, said the government should adopt a cautious approach with regard to minimum support price as it also affects the price of food grains for consumption for poor people in rural and semi-urban areas. 

On the sustained fall in the value of the Indian currency, Jalan said, "I would not say it (depreciation of rupee) is cause for worry per se, in the sense that we have enough resources but the movement in rupee's value in the last couple of months has been a matter of concern."

He, however, pointed out that the government has taken some measures to contain the fall of the rupee.

Acknowledging that non-performing assets (NPAs) are a problem, he expressed hope that bad loans issue is going to be resolved as the government has introduced IBC and also the RBI has announced prompt corrective action (PCA) framework. 

To a question on debt-laden Air India, Jalan said that privatisation of the national carrier may take some time.

"There is an issue which the government needs to tackle which is how to handle the outstanding debt of PSUs which it now wants to privatise," he added.