Allahabad, Feb 13 (PTI) Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said his remarks that rising subsidy bills were giving him "sleepless nights" were made in a lighter vein and asserted that the economy has the "resilience" to meet any challenge. "My sleepless nights remark was made in a jocular vein. I did not know it will make headlines. Our economy has the strength, the resilience and the fundamental skill to work its way out of any problem," Mukherjee, who was here to canvass for the Congress party on the last day of campaigning for third phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, said. "Our economy is growing at the rate of 7 per cent when the US is not able to grow at more than 1.5 per cent and the European Union is faring no better. I do not wish to say that I am content with the current rate of growth, but that we are capable of facing challenges," he asserted. Replying to a query, Mukherjee said, "It is wrong to say that the government has not done anything to control inflation. To cite an example, food inflation was soaring at 22 per cent in 2010, but has been brought down to a negative rate in 2011." Worried over the impact of rising expenditure on the fiscal deficit, Mukherjee had last week said he is "losing sleep" over skyrocketing subsidy bill which could exceed budget estimates by over Rs 1 lakh crore in 2011-12. "As Finance Minister when I think of the enormity of the subsidies to be provided, I lose my sleep. There is no doubt," he had said at a conference in New Delhi. The fiscal deficit, estimated at 4.6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is expected to be around 5.6 per cent, mainly on account of factors like subdued revenue collection, poor disinvestment receipts, high global commodity prices and increasing subsidy bill. MORE
