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Chidambaram is Asia Finance Minister of Year 2005
By agencies
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Monday, 16 January 2006, 20:30 IST
NEW DELHI: The Banker magazine has named Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram as the Finance Minister of the year 2005 for Asia for retaining and pushing reforms and controlling fiscal deficit.
The Financial Times group magazine praised Chidambaram for his determined pursuit of reforms, but said it is not just that which earned him the award.
The ruling coalition, an assortment of Congress party and a group of local parties including the communists, keeps his reformist designs firmly in check, the Banker said.
Privatization and labor reforms have already been thwarted, limits on FDI are popular, the magazine said, adding that in many ways, Chidambaram is acknowledged not so much for fresh reform momentum but more for holding on to past progress.
But that understates the Minister of Finance's ongoing efforts to liberalize investment laws, cut bureaucracy and improve the business environment," the magazine said.
"As if his campaign for reform was not a full time preoccupation, his plate is already full reining in the country's ominous fiscal deficit, which is likely to end the fiscal year on target at 4.5 percent of GDP," the magazine said in its January issue.
The magazine said Chidambaram is unapologetic for the fact that democracy, coalition partners, opposition and a free press all have to be listened to and carried along is the main reason why reform has not been swifter.
In India, successfully making the case for reform is far more of a skill than knowing what reform to seek, the magazine said.