Jayalalitha again blasts Chidambaram over foreign funding

Calcutta News.Net
Thursday 12th June, 2008 (IANS)

AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalitha Thursday renewed her criticism of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's economic policies and demanded his resignation for 'falsely' claiming that foreign investments into India were being monitored by the market watchdog.

Jayalalitha in a statement here Thursday pointed out that the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had slapped a fine of Rs.10 million on Goldman Sachs Investment (Mauritius) for its failure to report the issuance of participatory notes (P-notes) to the Mauritius-based Magnus Capital Corporation Ltd.

'However, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has set aside Sebi's order and asked the market regulator to pay Rs.100,000 to Goldman Sachs instead,' Jayalalitha noted.

'The case is not only a loss of face for Sebi, it is also a clear indication that the finance minister's claim that investments from abroad are being adequately monitored is a lie,' said Jayalalitha, Tamil Nadu's leader of opposition.

'Are we to infer that he has certain vested interests in doing so? Now that his lie has been publicly nailed, will he quit office?'

'If he refuses to do so on his own, will the prime minister (Manmohan Singh), an economist himself, throw him out and ask the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to investigate what is happening?' she asked.

After Jayalalitha's criticism earlier, the finance ministry had clarified that P-notes were market instruments created and traded overseas and the government of India could not ban or control the issue of P-notes, only 'regulate' them.

On May 29, she had criticised Chidambaram, saying: 'A spectre called 'economic terrorism' was being encouraged by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government which let foreign investors hide their identity under a sub-account by making use of p-notes to route their investments, often running into hundreds of crores.'

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