Okay with Pension Bill, but won't let Insurance Bill pass: Yashwant Sinha

Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said today that the BJP will not let the Insurance Bill pass in Parliament.

Sinha told CNBC-TV18 that no agreement had been reached between his party and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on supporting a Bill to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 49 per cent. He said thatthe BJP stuck to its earlier stated view, that the government should abide by the 26 per cent FDI cap as suggested by Parliament’s standing committee on finance (which he heads).

Sinha said the party had told Finance MinisterP Chidambaramhe should not bring theinsurance Billin this session of Parliament, as the opposition would not let it pass. “We have no problem with the Pension Bill. But, Insurance Bill in current form is not acceptable,” Sinha said.

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[caption id=“attachment_1016127” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Yashwant Sinha. AFP[/caption]

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had met Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitely, and Sinha last week to try and get support for the insurance and pension Bills. “In the meeting, Chidambaram was clearly told there is no possibility of getting the insurance Bill passed in this session of Parliament. We don’t want a deal with the government,” Sinha said.

The BJP leader also said that the Food Bill and theLand Acquisition Bill will be disastrous for markets if implemented. “Food Security is best left to states,” he added.

Sinha said the government and the RBI should not fight the market to defend the rupee. The rupee plunged to all-time intra-day low of 61.80 against the dollar yesterday, but erased all the losses to end with a gain of 11 paise at 60.77 after RBI is believed to have intervened heavily in the forex market.

He also pointed out that the recent moves by the RBI and the government to save the rupee will lead to collateral damage. “Balance of payment crisis most worrisome. Growth will be less than 5 percent in Fy'14,” he said.