Parties flay govt over sliding rupee

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav holds the govt responsible for the continuous rupee fall

Political parties slammed the government in the Lok Sabha on Thursday over the sliding rupee, which has breached the Rs 68 to a US dollar mark, and demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh make a statement on the issue.

When the House met for the day, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj sought Speaker Meira Kumar's permission to speak during Question Hour on the continuous fall in the value of the rupee.

"Day before yesterday there was a debate in the House on the state of the economy in which the Finance Minister gave a long speech enumerating 10 steps and maintained that if these are implemented the economy will improve. After this the confidence of the country and the investors should have increased by at least 10-20 paise but it has actually fallen," Swaraj said.

"The country's reputation is attached to the Rupee...We want a statement from the Prime Minister, who is a renowned economist. Those having Ph.Ds in economics are not able to handle the economy," she said, adding the PM should clarify whether the Rupee slide will stop or it will continue to fall.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav held the government responsible for the slide in the rupee. He said some fall in the rupee over a period of time is understandable but it has continuously gone down.

"This is due to the wrong policies of the government. The budget of this year was also against the policies," he said, adding that in 1991, India had to pledge gold and today the world is eyeing India's gold again.

Sougat Roy (TMC), who had given notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the devaluation of the rupee, said the "drastic fall in the rupee's value is causing concern at the national and the international level".