Panel8217;s concern over falling Re

MUMBAI, Aug 11: The 40-member Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Congress member of parliament MP Murli Deora, expressed concerns on the fall of the rupee against the backdrop of the south-east Asian meltdown. In a three-hour long meeting with the Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan, the parliamentary panel raised questions about inflation, forex crisis, shortage of currency notes and investors8217; confidence after the CRB crisis. quot;Many queries regarding priority sector lending and non-performing assets in the banking industry were raised. The panel also expressed concern about the falling rupee,quot; sources said.

During the last leg of their two-day interface with the financial sector chiefs, the committee members 8212; Jaipal Reddy, Amar Singh, Gurudas Dasgupta, Biplab Dagupta 8212; grilled the chiefs of the LIC and GIC on their preparedness to meet the challenges of the insurance sector liberalisation.