New
Delhi: Indian Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has asked
the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to look
into the "abnormal movement of public sector bank
stocks over the past several weeks" and immediately
submit a report to the ministry.
Admitting
that the movement of the share prices of several public
sector banks over the past few weeks was abnormal, Singh
said: "I, as finance minister, feel responsible.
I have asked the SEBI chairman to look into the fluctuation,
collect information and correct the impression in the
market."
Singh
added: "The period between 1990 and 2003 has seen
many fractures in investor confidence. We have tried to
make the system as transparent as possible. I am disappointed
at what happened."
The minister, however, did not elaborate whether he felt
responsible for the contradictory statements made by his
ministry officials or merely for the unusual fluctuation
in the prices of some bank stocks.
Contradictory
statements made by his ministry's spokesperson as well
as the finance secretary during the peak of the rally
in bank stocks in end-May 2003 had created confusion in
the stock market, leading to wild price fluctuations.
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