MUMBAI, February 19: Union finance secretary Monket Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said that the three-year time-frame for capital-account convertibility (CAC) set by the Tarapore committee was likely to be missed."We are in no hurry. There is no time-frame for CAC and the recommendations are to be implemented in phases. We have already started in that direction by implementing some recommendations. But we do not have any time-frame in mind," Ahluwalia said.
He was speaking to reporters during a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) on the country's response to the curency meltdown in south-east Asia.
According to the finance secretary, the committee had not laid out a three-year time-frame, so the question of following a time-table did not arise.
On where there was any plan to merge the term-lending institutions, Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and Industrial Credit & Investment Corporation of India (ICICI), Ahluwalia said the finance ministrywas not considering such a move. "We are not aware of any such move. If the chiefs of IDBI and ICICI are planning a merger, I do not know about it ... The ministry is not working on any such merger plan." Both ICICI and IDBI have denied any plans for a merger.
The finance secretary also ruled out any move by the ministry to appoint global-consultancy firm McKinsey to work out their merger to form a mega corporation. "We have not told McKinsey to study any merger plans between ICICI and IDBI," Ahluwalia said.
Recent reports in a section of the media suggested that the two institutions were likely to merge to form a mega corp and the finance ministry had appointed McKinsey to study the proposed move.
Ahluwalia also ruled any move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the finance ministry to ban private placement of debt. "I am not aware of any such move made by the Reserve Bank and it was only newspaper reports that suggested such a ban. Not us," he said.
Foreign-institutional investors (FIIs) will notbe allowed entry in the treasury-bill (T-bill) market till the next fiscal, the finance secretary said. "Right now we will not allow them, but the budget is likely to have some policy direction in this regard," he added. At present, FIIs are allowed to invest only in government securities and are barred entry in T-bills. He also ruled out the launch of a sovereign debt by the country now. "We have been thinking about it, but it will take some time," Ahluwalia said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
