Headline inflation remained under control for most of his tenure but the increase in crude oil prices resulted in inflation hitting a 16-year high of 12.9 per cent this year.
When Chidambaram took over as finance minister, the Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was 5.02 per cent. As crude oil prices have declined in the last few weeks, the annual inflation rate too has come down to less than 9 per cent.
Many capital market reforms like corporatisation and demutualisation of stock exchanges, and permitting foreign investors to pick up equity in local exchanges, were initiated during his tenure.
Image: An Indian vendor waits for customers at a vegetable market in Mumbai. | Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images
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