Battle-scarred,yet Manmohan talks of ‘biting the bullet’

Nothing weakens political resolve like poll losses. So, it needed certain steeliness for PM Manmohan Singh to say that reducing the deficit, even if it means increasing fuel prices, may require the government to “bite the bullet” on subsidies.
“That is obviously the task which, I think, has required the government to put forward an effective programme for adjusting prices of petroleum products and other relevant prices… So we have to bite the bullet,” he said in an interview with ET Now’s consulting editor Swaminathan Aiyar.
The PM identified inflation as the principal challenge and said, “The biggest single thing fiscal policy can do in controlling inflation is by controlling the fiscal deficit. Fiscal deficit in the current year has turned out to be as high as 5.9%.”
Singh made no bones about his worries on fiscal deficit and said, “The finance minister has promised to bring it down to 5.1% of GDP. If that happens, that would be a material contribution to stabilizing the price level; also reducing crowding-out (of credit available to private investment) that invariably follows if government borrowing goes haywire.”
On whether the Trinamool is on board regarding likely price hikes, he said, “There will be difficulties. There have been difficulties. But ultimately, if the government is to govern, it must have a sustainable strategy for managing the economy… we will consult all our allies.”
On fertilizers, he said “there is agreement that we should have a nutrient-based subsidy.”
Budget 2012
Budget News 2012