| |
Political confusion clouded economic vision in 1997
A year of great initiative but stalled consummation: that is how 1997 will be remembered. The year offered nothing to get worked up about, either positive or negative; nothing as exciting as bank nationalisation of 1969 came about. And belying expectations, reform was furthered.
 |
|
The man who tried too hard
Lady luck has been unkind to P Chidambaram at crucial moments. One of the key players in the motley United Front government, the Union finance minister failed not because of laxity on his part but due to the nature of the fragile government he represented. His job wasn't made easier by the relentless carping from the Left and some of his other political allies.
|
 |
Can the public sector go public in 1998?
The public sector never managed to go public in 1997, despite the best of intentions of the government. P Chidambaram, the Union finance minister had expected Rs 7,000 crore to flow in this fiscal through the sale of public sector shares in the secondary market. But market conditions, combined with a lack of certainty about objectives, put paid to those ambitions.
|
Of wounded pride and business not quite as usual
No Thursday was ever more welcome. Slowdown strife has firms clutching at the straw of a New Year, and corporate managers drying out on Christmas Holidays are at last taking time off for their first smiles in 1997, hoping against hope that Thursday and the 364 days to follow will wipe out memories that threaten to rankle longer.
|
