THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance minister TM Thomas Isaac has sought to dispel doubts over the role of Harvard economist Gita Gopinath as the chief minister's economic advisor, when he himself is a trained economist, saying the government would seek her opinion on international trade and commerce subject to state's policies. Replying to questions in the Assembly on Wednesday, he admitted his limitations as his areas were political economy and development economics, and said opinions of experts in different sectors would only help the government.
But the government got a policy and minimum program. The government would accept all suggestions from experts that suits these policies. No one could alter the basic policies of the government, he said. In reply to a question of Congress MLA K. S. Sabarinadhan, he said he was not aware whether Ms Gopinath was director board member of any corporate firm. She was an adviser to the International Monetary Fund.
