Reacting to the downgrading, he remarked: “We will have to analyse it. It will require some time. Situation is grave and there is no gain in making off-the-cuff remarks.”
In an unprecedented move, Standard & Poor's downgraded the US government’s 'AAA' sovereign credit rating - a development which raises concerns that investors will lose confidence in its economy.
Mukherjee’s statement comes a day after a day after a bloodbath was witnessed in the global markets including those in Asia. The minister had stated on Friday that market fall was due to external factors.
Mukherjee suggested that the weak US recovery and Euro Zone debt crisis may have impacted the global market slide.
“This is nothing domestic. It is substantially due to external factors,” Mukherjee told select scribes who trooped into his room in the Parliament for his reaction to the market blood bath.
“This is mainly because of the fact that some projection has been made about poor recovery of U.S. This has affected the market sentiment. Current volatility is temporary. Hope that there will be a recovery shortly,” the minister said.
He also referred to debt default in Italy , Spain and some other European countries.
The Finance Minister said Asian stocks are tumbling in the light of sharp sell off in the world markets due to poor economic indicators in the U.S. and fears of sovereign debt default contagion in Euro Zone spreading to other European countries.
“Therefore, it has its downfall in the Indian market,” he said. He said the slump in the Indian market preceded an overnight meltdown in the U.S. market and negative trends in Asian and European markets.