Need to address six challenges to maintain growth: Rangarajan

Noted economist and Rajya Sabha member C Rangarajan today said that if the country has to sustain the high rate of economic growth achieved in recent years, there is an urgent need to address six main challenges including that of fiscal consolidation and good governance.

Noted economist and Rajya Sabha member C Rangarajan today said that if the country has to sustain the high rate of economic growth achieved in recent years, there is an urgent need to address six main challenges including that of fiscal consolidation and good governance.

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"If we have to sustain the high rate of economic growth, there is an urgent need to address six main challenges of stepping up agricultural growth, infrastructure development, building of social infrastructure, fiscal consolidation, managing globalisation and good governance," he said delivering the convocation address of a management institute here.

The former RBI Governor said to translate growth into poverty alleviation, the country needed to expand employment opportunities and improve productivity across all sectors of the economy.

Rangarajan said the impact of recession on India was felt through two routes of trade and capital flows. "Though exports have shown a steep fall and capital inflows have diminished, the Indian economy grew in the second half of 2008-09".

"My own expectation is that Indian economy will grow at 6.5 per cent in the current year. Though this is a sharp decline from the high growth rate achieved earlier, it is nevertheless a satisfactory rate of growth given the world situation", he said.