"The Planning Commission will also look into the most important trade commodity -- currency," said Jaswant Singh, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission while addressing the economic editors' conference here on Thursday. "Currency has been given little attention as there is no or little international constraints and domestic restraints on this commodity," added Singh.

Singh appreciated India's decision in taking its own time in implementing capital account convertibility. This is moreso when viewed in the context of the recent South-East Asian economic crisis which shattered many booming economies in the region.

On the role of international financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in the South-East Asian economic crisis,Singh asked whether these institutions were at all willing to meet the demands of developing countries.

He said the planning process had assumed a pivotal role in the current economic and political circumstances. "India has entered the realm of nuclear diplomacy on the demise of the cold war," he added.

Singh emphasised that there existed two challenges for India which the Planning Commission had to address. The first one was to address the economic aspect of governance of the country with nuclear diplomacy and the other was the challenge of meeting demands of foreign policies. "It is essential to reconcile with the demands of foreign economic policies," he added.

It was also essential to manage politics as one managed economics. Even the developed world like the US and Europe gave very high protection to areas like agriculture which are backed by powerful farmer's lobby, Singh pointed out.

While countering comments that the whole planning processes had lost its relevance in the wake of the market-ledeconomy being promoted by the current economic liberalisation, Singh said that on the contrary the planning process had become more significant today than before.

Similarly, India needed food security, energy security as well as tackling issues concerning poverty. Given these demands of the economy, the role of the Planning Commission had assumed an even more important role today than earlier, he added.

In fact, Singh pointed out that the Planning Commission had a much wider role to play than just as a long-term economic planner.

In view of this, the commission has also sought clearance from the government and a Cabinet nod was awaited to its internal restructuring programme.

Ruling out any plan holiday, Singh said the commission was giving final touches to the Ninth Plan document after incorporating the prime minister's five-point action plan and it would be placed before the National Development Council for approval this autumn.

However, the final task rests with the state government who would bethe final agency to implement the action plan once it was approved, he said.Singh said he wanted to see the country's world-renowned manpower put into adequate use. He said companies overseas were increasingly setting up base in India and employing Indian manpower to service their businesses.