Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the fiscal deficit was "unacceptably high' and raised concern over the health of the federal and state government finances, while emphasising on the need to cut wasteful expenditure. He was addressing the heads of 15 Congress-ruled states. "As revenues are rising, so is the expenditure. We are in danger of sliding back on our commitment to fiscal responsibility,' he added. Dr Singh's 20-minute long address at the chief ministers' conclave, which was clearly a corollary of Friday's speech by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, however, did not include any major policy statements on the part of the UPA government.