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Indian economy to grow 6-7 per cent this fiscal: World Bank
New Delhi, Nov 12: The World Bank has said the Indian economy will grow by 6 to 7 per cent in 2003-04 and going by the current indications India can achieve the targetted eight per cent growth.
New Delhi, Nov 12: The World Bank has said the Indian economy
will grow by 6 to 7 per cent in 2003-04 and going by the current
indications India can achieve the targetted eight per cent growth.
World Bank Country Director Micheal F Carter told reporters that good
monsoon as well as stable global economic environment should ensure
a healthy growth for the indian economy.
''The short-term outlook for india is positive. We will see a strong recovery this year,'' he said on the sidelines of a function organised by the Western International University.
''In the longer term, we see the potential for an even faster growth but for that many steps need to be seriously pursued by the central and state governments,'' he said.
Carter added that there was no need for much concern over the central government's fiscal deficit which is pegged to be over five per cent of the GDP.
''I feel that it will not be much of a problem as with growth, the fiscal deficit is expected to come down in the long run.
''Though the consolidated fiscal deficit of the centre and the states is above 10 per cent, the Indian economy has higher underlying growth potential. India can live with higher fiscal deficit,'' the World Bank official said.
He said higher growth would also ensure that the financial sector springs back to health.
However, he said there were some ''serious impediments'' which needed to be tackled for sustaining the growth momentum.
''These include improving infrastructure, literacy and health. Also, attention needs to be given to the small and medium enterprises and agriculture.
''Distortions in agriculture need to be addressed and diversification of farm economy encouraged,'' he added.
Carter stressed that there should be close monitoring to ensure that all benefits are ''evenly spread across all regions and social classes''.
The encouraging words from the World Bank follow similar forecasts by the Reserve Bank of India, National Council of Applied Economic Research, Confedeartion of Indian Industry and other economic think-tanks.
Bureau Report
''The short-term outlook for india is positive. We will see a strong recovery this year,'' he said on the sidelines of a function organised by the Western International University.
''In the longer term, we see the potential for an even faster growth but for that many steps need to be seriously pursued by the central and state governments,'' he said.
Carter added that there was no need for much concern over the central government's fiscal deficit which is pegged to be over five per cent of the GDP.
''I feel that it will not be much of a problem as with growth, the fiscal deficit is expected to come down in the long run.
''Though the consolidated fiscal deficit of the centre and the states is above 10 per cent, the Indian economy has higher underlying growth potential. India can live with higher fiscal deficit,'' the World Bank official said.
He said higher growth would also ensure that the financial sector springs back to health.
However, he said there were some ''serious impediments'' which needed to be tackled for sustaining the growth momentum.
''These include improving infrastructure, literacy and health. Also, attention needs to be given to the small and medium enterprises and agriculture.
''Distortions in agriculture need to be addressed and diversification of farm economy encouraged,'' he added.
Carter stressed that there should be close monitoring to ensure that all benefits are ''evenly spread across all regions and social classes''.
The encouraging words from the World Bank follow similar forecasts by the Reserve Bank of India, National Council of Applied Economic Research, Confedeartion of Indian Industry and other economic think-tanks.
Bureau Report