New Delhi, Dec 18 (Inditop.com) Encouraged by a 7.9 percent growth in the Indian economy during the second quarter of this fiscal, the finance ministry Friday said the overall economic expansion during the year could even exceed 7.75 percent.
The macroeconomic situation during the first half of this fiscal and the positive impact of the measures taken by the government clearly point to a turnaround in the Indian economy, said a midyear review tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament.
“With the latest gross domestic product data for the second quarter (July-September) of 2009-10 being higher at 7.9 percent, the growth outlook for the next two quarters and for the whole year is likely to be in the upper bound of the range predicted, and may even exceed it,” it said.
Mukherjee also said the rise in the prices of primary articles of consumption in recent times was a cause of concern, and needed to be attended to urgently.
“The current episode of increase in prices does not appear to be a product of aggregate demand expansion in the economy,” said Mukherjee in the document.
“Its dominant cause is the supply-side constraint, due to reduced food production or, more accurately, the expectations of a reduction in food production over the next months that the drought and poor monsoon in India have inevitably given rise to.”
