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The Finance Minister today said that the first quarter growth numbers were very disappointing. He said that this was a year of fiscal consolidation. P. Chidambaram today admitted that India's twin deficits were higher than most of its peers.
Commenting on the rupee's slide, he said that the rupee has now overshot its value and should correct soon. "Rupee is more undervalued than it should be," he added. The rupee has to find its value depending on the macro factors, he said. However, he also mentioned that some of the adjustment in the rupee was much needed.
Talking about the much debated food security bill, he said that the government was taking a number of steps to roll out the Food Security Act, and that they will find a way to foot the Food Security Bill. "Wheat and rice allocation will go up by 50 lakh tonne post Food Security Bill," he said.
