Growing Doubts Over Indian Finance Minister's Deficit Plan "The Indian finance minister has barred government officials from holding conferences at five-star hotels, restricted travel and ordered a freeze on hiring to fill vacant posts," Reuters reported. Four weeks ago, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had "set himself an ambitious target: to hold the government's fiscal deficit for 2012-13 to 5.3 percent of gross domestic product," the report said. But the deficit reduction plan announced by him last month was criticized by economists for being "short on specifics" and "protective of fuel subsidies and expensive social welfare programs for the country's millions of poor people." The absence of a credible plan increased the chances that "ratings agencies could reduce the government's debt to junk status in the coming months."