Acutely aware that the entire business and industry sector within the country and investors abroad would be anxious to know his first statement on Economic Policies of new government,Finance Minister Mr. Chidambaram , held out assurance for the continuation of reforms and has made it sure to convey that the UF-LF government welcomes the investment. He has also been careful enough to declare "humane and heartful commitment to social development, social justice and alleviation of poverty."Knowing that he can ill afford to criticize the performance of the Rao government , of which he was a high profile member, Mr. Chidambaram departed from the generally accepted practice of criticizing the previous regime. "There is agreement that the economy is basically in sound health and the economic indicators point to high growth."
In outlining the new government's broad economic agenda, he sought to balance the twin needs of growth and justice.Even as he acknowledged the differences, he did his best to allay fears of divisions within the Front on the basic agenda listed out by him, and even reached out for support from Congress and BJP.
In a speech at a recent conference on "India's economic reform: structural adjustment and policy requirements for long term dynamic growth" organized by ICRIER, Mr. Chidambaram had said that the government has put the agenda of reform in place but a lot more needs to be achieved . He said that to complete the unfinished agenda there was need to summon political will to go faster and there was no substitute for hard work . He had opined that the then prime minister and finance minister deserved high marks for their political acumen and finance sector management. On infrastructure , he had said that a lot needs to be done in terms of improving port facilities ,power supplies and road building.
Following are the highlights of the guidelines on which the Economic policies of new government will be based: