India’s business leaders on Sunday night welcomed the shuffle that temporarily puts the finance ministry under the control of Manmohan Singh, the prime minister.

The respected economist, often credited as architect of many of the country’s market reforms, takes over the portfolio from Palaniappan Chidambaram at a challenging time. Last week’s attacks on Mumbai may have a limited direct effect on India’s economy. But they come as the country discovers that it was not as immune to the global financial crisis as it had hoped.