Time govt rolls out reforms, says Sebi chief

Mumbai: Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) U K Sinha, one of the architects of the country's pension sector reforms, on Friday expressed concern and anguish over the government's stalled reforms agenda. 

    He said the pension sector reforms, along with similar moves in other segments within the financial sector such as insurance, could help revive the faltering investor sentiment and economic growth. 
    "Some of the reforms which have long been pending, 
and one example being pension reforms… it has been years and years that some of these reforms are yet to come through," he said. "And that is something all of us have to counter very seriously. How long can we go on deferring this?" Sinha was quoted as saying by agencies. 
    He made the statements while addressing the Skoch summit in the city.Can't blame global woes: Sebi chief Mumbai: Sebi chief U K Sinha's strong push for the government to go through with the reforms process came just a day after the government on Thursday deferred a decision on the changes in the crucial Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill after the Trinamool Congress, one of the constituents of the UPA, voiced its opposition against reforms in the sector. 
    Sinha said there was an overall feeling of dejection and anger among investors due to the economic scenario in the country and it was not possible for India to take shelter under global economic problems, referring to the events of 2008-09 when despite India's economy being in a good shape it had to bear the brunt of the global crisis. 
    He said India could tide over the present slowdown in growth if it moved ahead with some of the urgent reform measures and resolved the issues related to their implementation. 
    "If we start making some progress on these things (reforms), then in spite of the forecast about our economy coming down from the higher levels of 2007-08, if these policies change...start happening, we can again come to levels which are commendable in comparison to any part of the world. (But) those changes have to take place," Sinha said. 
    He, however, maintained that passing the PFRDA bill would serve only a limited purpose and pointed out that the issue of hiking foreign direct investment in insurance was still unresolved. 
    Sinha expressed his anguish on a day when there were reports that Fraport, the second largest airport operator in the world, was considering selling off its 10% stake in Delhi airport and shut its India operations. 
    Recently, Fidelity, one of the largest mutual funds in the world, sold its India fund management business while telecom majors like Norway's Telenor and Abu Dhabi's Etisalat have threatened to fold up their operations in the country. The government last week said the GDP growth for fiscal 2011-12 was 6.5%, the lowest in the last nine years.