The Hindu Business Line : ‘Tightening of monetary policy wrong, misguided’

The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (centre), addressing the FICCI national executive committee meeting along with Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar (right), Member of Parliament and President, FICCI, and Mr Harsh Pati Singhania, senior Vice-President, FICCI, in Kolkata on Wednesday. —

Our Bureau

Kolkata, Nov. 26 There is a “big gap” between the extent of global financial crisis and how the Central Government is perceiving it, Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar, President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) said here on Wednesday.

The tightening of monetary policy by the Central Government to contain inflation has also been “wrong and misguided”, he said, adding that the Centre should deploy the monetary instrument of cutting CRR and other key rates at one go rather than reducing them in phases.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the federation’s National Executive Committee here, Mr Chandrasekhar said, “There seems to be a big gap between how Delhi sees the crisis and the extent of the situation across the world.” There also appears to be a “lack of understanding” of the crisis and its probable solution, he pointed out. The views were raised by most of the members in the meeting, he added.

“FICCI had been continuously addressing the problem to the Centre since March and a more bold and big bang approach is needed immediately (from the Centre) rather than incremental measures,” Dr Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI, said.

Monetary parameters

The monetary parameters need to be brought down to the 2004 level as soon as possible, Mr Chandrasekhar said. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, told the conference that the State was awaiting Cabinet approval for the Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region at Nayachar. He would meet the Prime Minister on Saturday to discuss the setting up of the deep sea port at Haldia, he added.

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