Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will review the Indian economy with economic experts tomorrow to take stock of the current situation in view of the global meltdown and also firm up country's stand for the G 20 summit to be held in Washington.
As global leaders engage themselves to grapple with the worst economic crisis since 1929, WTO chief Pascal Lamy wants India, among other emerging economies, on board for a new financial world order.
Finance Minister P Chidamabram on Saturday said that the government will take care to see that the global recession did not have any direct impact on the Indian economy that will continue to grow at 8 per cent this fiscal.
Dismissing fears of global financial contagion impacting India, the International Monetary Fund has said that the country's economy will continue to perform well.
As the Indian consumer goes all out to seek new experiences from food and wine, installs an in-home spa and holidays in exotic destinations, modern retail is well on its way to becoming the key driver of the country's economy.
To sustain the economic growth of 8 percent, the country's agriculture sector needs to grow at 4 percent in the next 4-5 years, Minister of State for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal said.
Inflation remained unchanged at 12.14 percent for the week ended September 13 even as the Finance Ministry said prices of essential items like cereals, pulses, sugar and edible oils declined on weekly basis.
Growth in six core infrastructure industries dropped to 4.3 per cent in July 2008-09 from 7.2 per cent a year ago, which economists feared could stunt the expansion of an already slowing economy.
Planning Commission on Monday said inflation will come down in the next 3-4 months and touch single digit by the end of the current fiscal.
The government hopes to increase the contribution of service tax to the country's GDP, which is currently as low as 1.1 per cent, a top official said.
Containing inflation will continue to be the overriding priority of monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India, said in its Annual Report for 2007-08 released on Friday.
The US economy defied predictions of a downturn in the the second quarter as exports helped growth accelerate to a 3.3-percent annualized pace, the government said on Thursday.
Moody's has projected that India's economic growth would decelerate to 7.9 per cent in the current fiscal from 9 per cent in 2007-08.
There may be no reprieve from inflation, which is ruling at 12.63 per cent, before the third week of November, as the government sees prices riding the base effect among other factors.- Conforming to forecast of PM's Economic Advisory Council and other economists, economic think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research has also projected moderation in economic growth at 7.8 per cent.
Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said a 9-10 per cent growth rate was achievable by India in the medium term, while the economy would log around 8 per cent growth in the current fiscal.- India's annual rate of inflation swelled to 12.44 per cent for the week ended Aug 2 as compared to 12.01 per cent the week before, goading the finance ministry to say this was a major disappointment.
- Food articles contributed only 5.58 per cent to India's inflation that hit a 13-year high of 12.01 per cent for the week ended July 26, the agriculture ministry said on Monday.
The government on Friday expressed the hope inflation will come down to single digit in the next three to six months although it has just broken the psychological 12 per cent level.- India's annual rate of inflation crossed the 12 per cent mark to 12.01 per cent for the week ended July 26 as compared to 11.98 per cent the week before, data released on Thursday showed.
- India's headline inflation would fall below the 10 per cent mark by the end of this financial year, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday.
Inflation is expected to cool down to 8-9 per cent by March 2009 if the global crude oil prices do not go up from the current level, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Chairman C Rangarajan said on Saturday.- In what comes as a big relief to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh government, India's annual rate of inflation dipped marginally to 11.89 per cent for the week ended July 12 as compared to 11.91 per cent for the week before.
Inflation inched up to 11.91 per cent mainly due to higher prices of some food items and various petroleum products which may prompt RBI to further tighten money supply in its quarterly review slated for July 29.
China registered a $7.57 billion trade deficit in agricultural products during the first five months of 2008, up by more than 14-fold over the same period in 2007, state press said on Sunday.
