Los Cabos, Mexico: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, said India is determined to take tough decisions, including cutting down subsidies to contain fiscal deficit and bring back the rhythum of high growth of 8 to 9 per cent.
In his remarks at the G-20 Summit, he said “Like other countries, we too allowed the fiscal deficit to expand after 2008 to impart a stimulus. We are now focussing on reversing the expansion. This will require tough decisions, including on controlling subsidies, which we are determined to take.”
Referring to the slow down of the Indian economy, he said “the global downturn and especially the impact on capital flows have played their part. Internal constraints have also affected performance and we are working to correct them.”
He said though the current 6.9 per cent GDP growth might look a reasonable figure, given the situation elsewhere in the world, “our public is impatient for a return to high growth and faster jobs creation.”
“The fundamentals of the Indian economy remain strong and we are confident of bringing back the rhythm of high- growth of 8-9 per cent per annum,” the Prime Minister added.
Touching upon the Euro zone crisis, the Assocham chief said, “Victory of the pro-bailout parties in the Greece elections came as a huge relief to the world economies, including India, but the problem seems to be far from over.”
The G-20 leaders at the ongoing summit in Mexico should refrain from coming out with ‘one- size-fits-all’ kind of a remedy for the global economy which is facing difficult times, Assocham President Rajkumar Dhoot said on Tuesday.
“We carried out an internal survey and observed that the industry leaders in India remain concerned on the developments mainly on two counts, one, we are losing markets for exports in Europe and the other is that the currency fluctuations is playing havoc with the emerging economies. Besides, the Indian rupee, has also lost significant ground, exerting pressure on the domestic inflationary expectations and keeping the country in the vicious cycle of high inflation and low growth,” added Mr Dhoot.
He also called upon the world leaders to shun the tendencies of protectionism which raise their ugly heads as and when the world economic growth faces contraction.
“The world at large is looking up to you to show the way, not merely by some well-meaning statements but concrete plans implementation of which should be left to the individual members,” Mr Dhoot said.
“Somehow, the G-20 leadership should ensure that these economies are encouraged to further improve so that they can lead the overall global recovery in the period of next six to 12 months,” said the ASSOCHAM president. “The current problems, mainly emerging from the European governments, have come closely after the 2009 crisis and the world leadership, including the central banks, must show the courageous approach so that we do not slip into a long haul of economic woes.” (UNI)