FM not revising down growth target for FY10

The government today said it would stick to its target of economic growth of over 6 per cent this fiscal, even as erratic monsoon and drought in many parts of the country would slow down the economic expansion in the next six months.

"There is no reason to revise my target which I am expecting 6 per cent plus. Whether it will be 6.5 per cent or 6.7 per cent, whether I will be able to retain last year's (economic growth rate), I do not know. There may be some deceleration in second and third quarters... But the fourth quarter will make up," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his opening remarks at the Forum of Financial Writers.

The economy grew by 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal, the fastest pace since the global financial crisis deepened in the middle of September last year.

"But, I am little doubtful whether we would be able to maintain the same rate in the second quarter and the third quarter. Agriculture growth in the second quarter and the third quarter will be little less," Mukherjee said.

The Reserve Bank has already projected the economy to grow by 6 per cent this fiscal with "upward bias" and the government stood by that estimates.

The Planning Commission had also said that the growth may fall in the next two quarters, but it would rebound in the fourth quarter to make economy clock 6.3 per cent growth in the entire fiscal.