Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday praised the dream budget presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in 1997, but wondered why the FM could not repeat the same later.

Dr Singh made this remark while releasing Chidambaram's book titled A View from Outside: Why Good Economics Works for Everyone in New Delhi on Monday. The function was attended by several ministers of his Cabinet, journalists and other distinguished leaders.
 
"He remained committed to our agenda of fiscal reform even after our government changed and he became part of the United Front Ministry. I think it was his budget of 1997 that was called a 'dream budget' by Swaminathan Aiyar. I think that made it difficult for his successors, including himself now, to come up with another such budget," Dr Singh said.
 
Dr Singh recalled how Chidambaram was a source of great strength during the early days of liberalisation, which was introduced in 1991 when the former was finance minister in Narasimha Rao's government.

"In fact, apart from the fiscal stabilisation we had to undertake in the Ministry of Finance at that time, an important aspect of reform was of the external sector and in the realm of trade. He was an enthusiastic partner in this process," he said according to a press note issued by the Prime Minister's Office.

Dr Singh praised the FM for giving up his powers as the commerce minister, and ordering the shutdown of certain departments that had been rendered useless because of the changes in the trade and industrial policies.
 
He wondered how Chidambaram could find time to pen down his thoughts so powerfully and beautifully despite paucity of time.

"Some columnists deserve not just a wider readership, but also deserve to be read by future generations. The essays of Chidambaram fall in this category. They are intelligent, articulate critiques of the government of the day and need to be studied by future generations for the insights they provide into our governance processes. Hence, the value of this endeavour," Dr Singh said.