Fact and friction

Stock-market participants are understandably exasperated by the negative publicity that India is receiving but some appear to think the depression in the markets is caused by the media rather than poor economic policy. Emerging from a meeting with finance ministry officials on the new norms for attracting investment from qualified foreign investors (QFIs), an official from depository participant tersely told a reporter that negative stories on the economic and political scenario were becoming a major dampener in promoting India to prospective investors. When the reporter replied that his job was to report the facts rather than suppress them, the official offered no reply.