Economy To Grow At 8.5-9 Per Cent

Even in the wake of an apparent slowdown in industrial growth in July, the Planning Commission on Tuesday projected the economy to grow by about 8.5-9 per cent during the current fiscal. Reiterating the Commission''s projections on economic growth while speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of a conference on ground water management, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said: We have been predicting a slightly lower growth and the latest industrial output numbers are no reason to reassess the growth estimate.

Noting that the first quarter growth was good, Dr. Ahluwalia pointed out that a slight deceleration was expected in the second quarter this fiscal and the dip would not be as a result of the tight monetary policy adopted by the Reserve Bank of India. I would rather call it a moderation in growth rather than slowdown. I would call it a successful example of macro-economic management, consistent with extracting non-inflationary potential of the economy by maintaining growth, he said. It may be recalled that while the economy witnessed a robust growth of 9.3 per cent in the first quarter this fiscal, the industrial growth slipped to 7.1 per cent in April-July from 13.2 per cent in the same period a year ago, mainly owing to an all-round dismal performance in July this year.