New Delhi: Indian Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to look into the "abnormal movement of public sector bank stocks over the past several weeks" and immediately submit a report to the ministry.

Admitting that the movement of the share prices of several public sector banks over the past few weeks was abnormal, Singh said: "I, as finance minister, feel responsible. I have asked the SEBI chairman to look into the fluctuation, collect information and correct the impression in the market."

Singh added: "The period between 1990 and 2003 has seen many fractures in investor confidence. We have tried to make the system as transparent as possible. I am disappointed at what happened."

The minister, however, did not elaborate whether he felt responsible for the contradictory statements made by his ministry officials or merely for the unusual fluctuation in the prices of some bank stocks.

Contradictory statements made by his ministry's spokesperson as well as the finance secretary during the peak of the rally in bank stocks in end-May 2003 had created confusion in the stock market, leading to wild price fluctuations.