NEW DELHI, May 28 – The Indian government is committed to take hard and difficult decisions in the long-term interest of the country’s economy, said Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
He said the five per cent growth witnessed last year should be seen as a temporary slow down.
“The economic fundamentals which made that possible are still intact. We are confident therefore that we can return to the growth path of eight per cent,” Manmohan said at the luncheon hosted by Nippon Keidanren in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The prime minister, who is in Japan to participate in the Annual Summit between the two countries, said the government had taken a number of steps to revive the economy.
“We have started to bring fiscal deficit under control and also outlined a medium term path for fiscal consolidation. We have accelerated the implementation of large infrastructure projects by setting up special mechanisms to ensure that various regulatory clearances do not lead to delays,” he said.
Manmohan said the government had also taken tangible steps to enhance incentives for investments. “We have liberalised foreign investments in areas like multi-brand retail, power exchanges and civil aviation and further rationalisation and simplification is being planned,” he said.
As a result of these efforts, the country’s growth in 2013-14 is expected to perform much better than in the previous year at around six per cent or so, said the prime minister.
“We will do even better in 2014-15,” he said. Manmohan also said the current bilateral trade of US$18 billion did no justice to its potential.
“New Delhi and Tokyo must harness the full potential of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to expand trade and make it more broad-based and balanced,” he added.
– BERNAMA
