Nirmala Sitharaman To Congress MP: "Some Are Jealous Of India's Growing Economy"

NEW DELHI: Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union finance minister, bemoaned on Monday that "some persons in Parliament are jealous" of the country's expanding economy in response to a question in the Lok Sabha over India's currency devaluation.

"India's economy is expanding at the highest rate, but the opposition has an issue with it. Although everyone should be happy with India's development, some people seem to think it's funny, the minister remarked.

Anumula Revanth Reddy, a Congressman, had questioned Sitharaman about if the government has noticed that the Indian rupee is "weakening day by day and has hit 83 per US dollar for the first time ever" and asked for clarification on the steps being taken to stop the decline. Reddy also made a dig at the federal government by quoting a 2013 comment made by Narendra Modi, then the chief minister of Gujarat and currently the prime minister, in which he attacked the Manmohan Singh-led UPA administration.

"Rupee is currently in the intensive care unit. I don't understand why Tamil people sent this person to Delhi, Modi had tweeted in October 2013 in a subtle dig at P Chidambaram, who was then the Union finance minister. To ensure that the rupee "returns home from the ICU," Reddy enquired as to the action plan.

"The value of the Indian rupee has been robust against all other currencies. To ensure that the Dollar-Rupee fluctuation does not increase too much, the Reserve Bank has used the foreign exchange reserves it has to interfere in the market, Sitharaman said.

Early on Monday, the rupee fell 35 paise to 82.63 against the US dollar as severe selling pressure in domestic equities and a strong US dollar abroad dampened investor morale, according to the sources. The local unit at the interbank foreign exchange depreciated further to quote at 82.63, a drop of 35 paise from its previous finish, after opening weakly at 82.54 against the dollar.

Also read: Assam: Rabha Community Stands Against Formation Of Kamatapur State

Also watch: