India will clock over 7.5% growth in 2017-18: Finance Secy Ashok Lavasa

New York: India can clock a GDP growth of over 7.5 percent in the fiscal 2017-18 and the country's macro-economic fundamentals, including fiscal deficit and inflation, are all "very sound", according to Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa.

Lavasa, who is visiting the US to attend a global investors conference, said that while there has been a general climate of economic slowdown in the last few years across the world, India has managed to maintain a healthy rate of growth.

"As far as (fiscal year) 2017-18 is concerned, I'm looking certainly at the economy growing at 7.5 percent plus," Lavasa told PTI yesterday.

"Though it (growth rate) might not be as much as people would have expected but still among the developing economies and other economies, India continues to grow at a healthy rate," he said.

Lavasa pointed out that India's macro-economic fundamentals, including the Current Account Deficit, fiscal deficit, inflation and Balance of Payments, are all "very sound".

"On all accounts, the Indian economy is in a fairly sound position. We feel that the kind of potential India has for growth is unmatched by other countries," he said.?

Going by the potential for additional consumption in India, driven by changing lifestyles and growing urbanisation, there are several positives in the Indian economy and "India will not only continue to grow at a healthy rate but it will continue to be a very attractive destination for many investors," he said.

The International Monetary Fund last month projected India's growth at 7.2 percent in the fiscal 2017-18 and at 7.7 percent for the next financial year.

The Manila-headquartered Asian Development Bank sees the growth jumping to 7.4 percent in 2017-18 and 7.6 percent in the next fiscal even as concerns were raised that the demonetisation exercise undertaken by India in November last year could have an impact on the country's GDP growth.