Government's measures to stop depreciation of rupee 'half-hearted and too late': Chidambaram 

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday described government's measures to stop rupee depreciation and curb the widening current account deficit (CAD) as "half-hearted and too late".

Chidambaram took to Twitter on Saturday and said that the government was in denial. He added that the worsening of the CAD was evident for months but nothing was done from the government's end to curb it.

"The slide in CAD, the FPI outflow, the weakening rupee and the depletion of forex reserves were wake-up calls that were ignored," he noted.

The Central government, on Friday, enumerated five measures to control the depreciation in the national currency and the widening of the CAD.

"One broad policy decision was to address the issue of expanding current account deficit. The government will take necessary steps to cut down non-essential imports and increase exports," Jaitley briefed media after concluding a high-level meeting with the Prime Minister and other officials.