Notwithstanding concerns over sliding rupee,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday ruled out reversal of reforms or resorting to capital controls to rescue the currency which he said fell on account of domestic as well as global factors. Related: Rupee slides again as fears grow Making a statement on the state of the economy in Parliament amid concerns over rapid depreciation of rupee,Singh said the country has to be ready for short-term shocks but the government will ensure that the fundamentals of economy remain strong. Rupee rises most in 15 yrs,zooms 225 paise to 66.55 "We are faced with challenges but we have the capacity to deal with them,",he said,while seeking support of all political parties in this situation. Breaking his silence on the decline of rupee,he said there "may be short term shocks to our economy and we need to face them. That is the reality of the globalised economy,whose benefits we have reaped". Rupee charts in uncharted territory There is no question of reversing the policies just because there is some turbulence in capital and currency markets,he said,adding the "sudden decline in exchange rate is certainly a shock,but we will address this through other measures,not through capital controls or by reversing reforms". Not satisfied with the Prime Minister's statement,the Opposition parties including BJP,AIADMK,Left and SAD staged a walk out in the Lok Sabha. Related: D Subbarao: P. Chidambaram will one day say 'thank God RBI exists' The Prime Minister assured the House that the government was working hard to arrest the slide. "Rupee was hit hardest by current account deficit and the government is working hard," Manmohan Singh said,adding "the government is confident of lowering current account deficit to USD 70 billion this fiscal." He said the Reserve Bank of India and the government have taken a number of steps to stabilise the rupee. The Prime Minister said the US federal reserves tapering has caused general weakening in global currencies. Manmohan Singh also suggested that people should need to reduce appetite for gold. (With PTI inputs)
