Euro zone crisis due to Greece cause for fall in market: Pranab

New Delhi: Describing the prevailing global situation as “complex”, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday attributed the sharp fall in the stock markets to uncertainty over resolving the Euro zone problems in the wake of the Greek crisis.

“It is because what has happened, what was decided by the electors of Greece in defeating a particular political party, raised the questions of uncertainty of resolving the Euro zone crisis and the package which was worked out by the leaders of Europe, there is a question mark,” Mukherjee said in his reply on Finance Bill, 2012 in the Rajya Sabha.

“Whether Greece will be revived, whether the package which was worked out by ECB (European Central Bank) where IMF (International Monetary Fund) is going to make a contributory role by providing additional $600 billion support, now that has been put in question mark,” he said.

Stock markets tanked with BSE benchmark Sensex closed at 16,030.09, a hefty loss of 298.16 points even as the rupee plunged to record lows. Rupee closed at all-time low of 54.49 per dollar.

“Uncertainty is prevailing, not confined to Greece not confined to those four countries, but the entire Asian market today has taken a hit,” he said.

“This is the complex situation in which we are living today and we cannot ignore that,” he said. Giving details of other Asian markets, the finance minister said Taiwan was down 2.18%, Indonesia by 2.70%, Korea 3.08% and Hong Kong stock market down by 3.37%.