Economy to grow by 6.5 per cent in current fiscal: Montek

The Planning Commission said the economy will grow by 6.5 per cent during the current fiscal, much below the 7.1 per cent projected by the government last month.

The Planning Commission on Tuesday said the economy will grow by 6.5 per cent during the current fiscal, much below the 7.1 per cent projected by the government last month.

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“Growth this year will be around 6.5 per cent and the name of the game next year will be to repeat that performance,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said in New Delhi.

Pointing out that additional stimulus, over and above what was announced in the Interim Budget, would be required to push growth, he said, “it will be a major achievement (to achieve growth of 6.5 per cent in 2009-10)”.

Ruling out the possibility of sustained inflation in the backdrop of steps being taken by the Reserve Bank and the government, Ahluwalia said, “Low inflation gives us a lot of room in (the) next six months to use all available instruments to ensure growth picks up.”

Inflation for the week ended March 7 dipped to a three-decade low of 0.44 per cent and is expected to turn negative in the coming weeks. The government is slated to announce inflation figures for the week ended March 14 on Thursday.