Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday warned about a severe and prolonged financial crisis and slowdown in economy due to global credit crisis and economic meltdown.

He was speaking after a meeting with India's top industry leaders. He discussed economic scenereo with India's top industrial leaders like Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, K P Singh, Deepak Parekh, K V Kammath and Shashi Ruia.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram, RBI Governor D Subbarao and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Kamath, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) chief Sajjan Jindal were also present at the meeting.

"Our first priority was to protect the Indian financial system from possible loss of confidence or contagion effect ... the situation is abnormal and we need to be constantly on the alert. The situation is being watched on a day to day basis and more steps will be taken if required." PM said.

Prime Minister also assured that the government would take necessary monetary and fiscal policy measures on the domestic front to protect our growth rates.