Date:17/07/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/07/17/stories/2003071705670100.htm

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Not quitting, says Jaswant

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 16. "At the cost of huge disappointment to many of you, I am not leaving the Finance Ministry,'' the Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, said here today.

Addressing presspersons on the issue of agricultural credit, Mr. Singh began by saying that "in the last one year that I have been Finance Minister, I have interacted with some of you but not all of you. So, at the cost of disappointment, huge disappointment to many of you, I am not leaving the Finance Ministry. That should set at rest all speculation in this matter.''

There had been some media reports recently suggesting that Mr. Singh wanted to go back to his old job at the External Affairs Ministry and the Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, would replace him in North Block. The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, was named as the possible HRD Minister, as per these reports.