India’s Finance Minister Resigns Amid Scandal
India’s finance minister, the architect of its free-market reforms, announced his resignation Friday under criticism for failing to check a massive stock scandal.
Manmohan Singh’s resignation would be a blow to the still-incomplete liberalization program. A former economics professor, he was an apolitical figure who commanded wide respect.
Singh said he will remain in office until Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao decides whether to accept the resignation. A decision was not expected until next week.
Government spokesman S. Narendra said Singh handed his resignation to Rao on Thursday, two days after a parliamentary committee concluded in a report that Singh must be held accountable for the scandal.
The 30-member panel of legislators had investigated the scandal for 17 months.
Singh was faulted for failing to supervise the Bombay stock exchange while banks illegally diverted more than $1 billion to selected stockbrokers so they could use it for speculation.
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