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Steps taken to protect rupee, PM told

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been assured by Reserve Bank Governor Bimal Jalan that steps are being taken to stabilise the rupee and face the impact of international developments on the economy.

Jalan gave a presentation on Tuesday about the effect on the economy of the south east Asian financial crisis. He also highlighted the impact of the falling yen on the Indian economy.

Several senior cabinet ministers were present at the meeting at which Jalan charted out the course to strengthen the rupee which is under pressure in the aftermath of the south east Asian currency crisis.

Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha could not attend the meeting since he was away in Bihar. The cabinet ministers who were present included Home Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, and Railway Minister Nitish Kumar,

The yen had tumbled on Monday when it touched 146 per US dollar. This had reverberations on the Indian stock as well as currency markets, putting more pressure on the rupee, which is already on the downslide.

Jalan had stated earlier that there was no cause for concern in the backdrop of the huge foreign currency reserves. As on June 1, the total foreign exchange reserves were worth 28.8 billion US dollars, which includes 25.5 billion worth currency assets, gold reserves, 3.1 billion US dollars, and SDRs of four million US dollars.