NEW DELHI, March 1- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh(Pic) lauded the annual budget, saying it would reverse the pessimistic mood and lay the roadmap for investments, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. He also expressed confidence of returning to eight per cent growth within three years and said that Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has laid out a roadmap which has “plenty of food for every ministry to chew there”. Manmohan said Chidambaram has taken important steps to reverse pessimistic mood with regard to investment climate, the growth potential and possibilities of Indian economy.
The Prime Minister also noted that India needs to accelerate the tempo of growth to create jobs for its growing labour force to the extent of about 10 million persons every year.
“We need, as the 12th five year plan has mentioned eloquently, a growth rate of about eight per cent. This is a growth rate which is consistent with our underlying potential,” he said, adding that it was a difficult task which cannot be achieved in one year.
BERNAMA