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Experts discuss fallout of global crisis

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday convened a meeting with top economic experts to discuss the implications of the global financial meltdown and draw up India’s stand on the crisis at the crucial G-20 Summit called by the U.S. next month.

Economic think tank ICRIER Director Rajiv Kumar, who was one of the participants, told newspersons that the agenda of the meeting was the summit that U.S. President George Bush has called on November 15. “We are discussing the position that India will take at the summit. There will be another meeting. A paper is being prepared by the Ministry of Finance [in this regard],” he said.

Various views were voiced on the issue at the meeting which was also attended by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, RBI Governor D. Subbarao, SEBI Chairman C. B. Bhave, 13th Finance Commission Chairman Vijay Kelkar, Finance Secretary Arun Ramanathan, Economic Affairs Secretary Ashok Chawla and former Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council C. Rangarajan.

Collection of views

Elaborating on the structure of the meeting, Dr. Rangarajan said: “It’s a collection of views. It was about the international financial crisis and what views can be taken at the summit. The summit is a high-level meeting that will discuss possible changes in the international financial architecture.” Staying clear from queries as to whether the apex bank was considering further steps to tackle the liquidity crunch, Dr. Subbarao merely noted that the Finance Minister had convened the meeting to deliberate on a number of issues and that included India’s stance at the forthcoming G-20 meeting.

Bhave tight-lipped

More tight-lipped was the SEBI chief on whether the issue of short-selling was taken up for discussion. “I have no comments at this stage. Whenever decisions are made, they will be communicated to you. I have no comments to make at all,” he said. According to a top Finance Ministry official, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also been officially invited to the G-20 meeting, “today’s meeting here discussed whether India should take a position at the summit or simply watch the situation.”

Evidently, among other issues pertaining to financial sector reforms and regulations, the G-20 meeting is slated to discuss the impact of the global financial turmoil on the emerging economies and developed nations.

The main objective of the meeting would be to hammer out a joint strategy between countries.

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