What has happened to our Forex reserves? Now Forex reserves are 280 billion US dollars but when the UF Government handed over the power to us in 1998, it was only 30 billion US dollars. It is because of our toil, our hard-work our vision and our consolidation, it reached a peak of 280 billion US dollars. Now the hon. Leader of the House knows everyday we are losing one billion US dollar. Not only that, lakhs of NRI's are coming back to India because of the economic down turn in the West and in the US. As the NRIs are coming back, the NRI remittances are depleting. Not only that, we all very well know that there is trade deficit. The imports are higher than exports. When there is a trade deficit, there is no question of earning our foreign through international trade. The exports are not growing at all. When NRIs are also coming back, their remittances are falling. Our forex reserves are depelting by one billion dollar per day. This is the situation under UPA. I know he owns up the responsibility for this mess. But at the same time, how is it to have 5.5 per cent of fiscal deficit, next year the economy has to grow by leaps and bounds at the rate of 11 per cent? He also knows it. When economy is slowing down at seven per cent and next year, the GDP growth may hover around five per cent, how is he going to expect 5.5 per cent of fiscal deficit? We are going towards a great crisis as a country. After four or five years of total mismanagement by a troika of Dr. Manmohan Singh Shri Chidambaram and Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, here is a very experienced veteran politician who is a trouble shooter for UPA. He announced that it is an Interim Budget. The country expected that he will come out with some solutions. A flicker of hope and a ray of hope was there. He has lost the opportunity for himself he has lost the opportunity.
