Government's measures to stop depreciation of rupee 'half-hearted': Chidambaram
New Delhi, Sep 15 : Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday said the Narendra Modi government's five measures to stop further depreciation of the rupee and widening of the current account deficit (CAD) were "half-hearted and too late".
"Government's five "measures" announced yesterday are half-hearted and too late. Because government was in denial," the former Finance Minister said on Twitter.
"The worsening of the CAD has been evident for several months; yet the government did nothing. The slide in CAD, the FPI outflow, the weakening rupee and the depletion of forex reserves were wake-up calls that were ignored," he added.
To stop further depreciation of the rupee and widening of CAD, the government on Friday took five measures and a broad policy decision to curb non-essential imports and increase exports.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, after holding a detailed discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the government is committed to maintain its fiscal deficit target even as it monitors the impact of external factors on the Indian economy.
"One broad policy decision was to address the issue of expanding current account deficit. The government will take necessary steps to cut down non-essential imports and increase exports," Jaitley told reporters after the high-level meeting.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
