No option but to bite subsidy bullet, says
Manmohan
Friday March 16, 2012 04:45:02 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Backing
the budget proposal for cutting subsidies to two percent of the
GDP, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday that the government
will have to "bite the bullet when the time comes" and stressed on
faster, sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
Alluding to the subsidy cuts announced by Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee while presenting the budget for 2012-13, Manmohan Singh
said: "When the time comes, we have to bite the bullet on
controlling subsidies."
"There is no other way to reduce subsidies," Manmohan Singh said
in an interview to state broadcaster Doordarshan.
The government will need to adjust prices of petroleum products to
bring down subsidies, he said, indicating some hard decisions in
the future.
When asked whether allies like the Trinamool were backing economic
reforms, the prime minister said: "When time comes for taking
tough decisions, we hope we will be able to take all our allies on
board."
Lauding the budget, Manmohan Singh said the finance minister had
done a good job of tackling inflation and at the same time
accelerating growth.
Stressing on the need for sensible decisions, he said: "Protecting
growth rate, which is better than most of the countries, has been
the biggest achievement of the UPA-II government in the last three
years."
"We were able to protect the growth rate of our economy much
better than other economies."
"We are in the league of frontrunners in the growth momentum," the
prime minister said while stressing on "faster, sustainable and
inclusive growth".
When asked about the challenges faced by the government in
bringing the economy back on track, he said: "The government will
have to take some tough decisions to keep the economy afloat and
bring it back on the eight-nine percent growth trajectory."
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Union Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee giving final touches to the General
Budget 20112-13, in New Delhi on March 15, 2012. Minister of
State for Finance Namo Narain Meena and the Secretaries of the
Ministry are also seen. |
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