New York: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has expressed determination to continue with the economic reforms and pay special attention to areas, including power sector, in which they have made less impact.

Speaking extempore before a gathering of US business representatives and investors on January 31, Sinha described the progress of reforms in the power sector as disappointing and conceded much more needs to be done in this area to attract investment.

"Much has been achieved in the first phase of reforms and India has traversed a long distance on this road," he said.

During his 30-minute presentation, Sinha gave details of the first generation reforms, what had been achieved and spoke about the challenges ahead.

The Finance Minister said that urgent attention is being paid to keep the fiscal deficit under control.

He cited the opening up of the insurance sector as a major achievement. The opening up of this sector effectively concluded the first generation of reforms," Sinha said, adding that the government would continue with second-generation reforms.

"Another sector in which reforms have seen a great degree of success is telecommunications," he said, noting that the consumer has benefited from the increased competition that resulted in lower rates.

PTI