A balanced Budget is need of the hour: Yashwant Sinha

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Q: I want to pick on a comment you made when you heard the last Budget and you said, I don't see any great message in the Budget, its timid, tepid and unimpressive but given we have seen the economy rebound, would you like to change your mind and be a little more charitable as a former Finance Minister?

A: The fundamental question here is - is it because of the Budget that we are seeing whatever we are seeing in terms of growth in the economy. I wouldn't give the credit to last year's Budget for this turnaround and how strong is the turnaround is something that we would like to wait and watch.

Q: But it is more than what you had anticipated, you were not expecting anything above 6%- at this point in time it looks like 7-7.5% is a given?

A: On what basis would you say that? - 7.9% in the last quarter for which we have figures.

Q: Yes that is right and Montek Singh Ahluwalia going on record to saying 7.5%, Pronab Sen, the Chief Statistician going on record to saying 7.5%. The Prime Minister at the State Chief Ministers Conference over the weekend saying 7.5%, so it has been better than what you were expecting hasn't it?

A: It has been better, there is no doubt about it but I would still say we should not look at it as a strong recovery as yet because the global conditions are far from propitious and to the extent to which they impact on India we do not know how they will really affect the Indian economy that is point number one.

Point two, that we have many uncertainties in our economy - how will petroleum prices be tackle? How will food inflation be tackled? - Are all issues which are going to impinge on not only the growth rate but the understanding of that growth rate by the people at large?

Q: As a former Finance Minister, not as a politician do you understand the challenges and dilemma that Pranab Mukherjee is facing because from an outsiders point of view it seems very easy that you should do this, or the government should that but given the global uncertainty, given as you yourself has pointed out the recovery perhaps not being strong enough at this point, given the fiscal constraints- do you feel his pain at this point?

A: I do feel, I completely sympathize with him because I think he has a very complex and challenging task. We have many problems, many challenges in the economy and I hope that in his Budget he will pay attention to all those challenges because if he neglects any aspect of it then the balance in the Budget will be affected and what India needs more than anything is a balanced Budget.

You cannot be borrowing Rs 4.5 lakh crore in the market and more perhaps and say that everything is hunky-dory. This is unprecedented. We all know that the laws of economics are ruthless. They don't bother about who the Prime Minister is, who the Finance Minister is , they operate, those laws.

So, I am particularly concerned at the rising level of food grain prices, essential commodity prices in the economy and somewhere I find the whole year of 2009 has gone by without the government effectively tackling this inflation.