Global finance

On Board Air India One: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today that the people of India should judge the performance of his government by its response to the global financial crisis which was "not our making". While saying general elections would be held on schedule in 2009 and there was no move to advance the dates, the Prime Minister said his government acted in time and while the rest of the world was in "doom and gloom" India continued to maintain its 7.5 per cent growth rate.

"Elections will be held on schedule," a relaxed Manmohan Singh said on his way back from the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy hosted by US President George W Bush in Washington on Saturday. "It has no bearing on the elections, he replied when asked if the financial crisis would have an impact on when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

The Prime Minister has said on more than one occasion that the general elections would be held when they fall due - that is by spring of 2009. "I think, as I said, the crisis is not our making. What I would like is for the people of India to judge us by the response of our government to this crisis," he said and added, "We acted in time, and while the rest of the world is in doom and gloom, we will still maintain a growth rate of 7.5 per cent. Growth with stability, more socially inclusive growth is a reality and will remain a reality despite the onslaught of the adverse turn in our external environment." (IANS)