Global meltdown came at wrong time: Finance secretary on Sensex tumble after budget
Finance Secretary
Hasmukh Adhia said that the Sensex tumble the day after the budget and on February 5 was mainly because of the global shake-up and not a fall-out of the budget announcement on February 1
As the downward spiral of the Sensex continued, finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia today said that the Sensex tumble the day after the budget and on February 5 was mainly because of the global shake-up and not a fall-out of the budget announcement on February 1.
The finance secretary said that had the budget been responsible for the fall in the 30-share barometer, the Sensex and Nifty would have nosedived on the budget day itself. He also said that the "global meltdown came at a very wrong time for us."
"What happened on February 2 and February 5 was mainly because of a global shakeup. We aren't living in an island so there will be ripple effect of what is happening in world on Indian stock markets. Otherwise the sensex and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) would have come down on the first day itself."
"We couldn't have shifted budget's date, global meltdown in stock exchange came at very wrong time for us. Following budget on 1st February, even after declaring there is long-term capital gain tax, the market was okay at end of day. There was only minimal disruption on day 1," he added.
On February 1, on the day of the budget, the Sensex had fallen over 460 points in afternoon trade after the announcement of long-term capital gains tax on stock market gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh.
On February 2, a day after the Budget, the Sensex had crashed 839.91 points to end at 35,066.75 and the Nifty sank 256.30 points to 10,760.60.
On February 5, the Sensex plunged 545 points to trade below the 35,000 mark on global cues.