FM optimistic about economy; expects 5% growth in FY'14

Seeking to paint an optimistic picture of the economy, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the country will clock a growth rate of 5% in the current fiscal notwithstanding the current stress.

 

"We are going through a period of stress but there is a ground for optimism...We hope things will become better in the second half of the current fiscal," he said at a press conference here.

 

The Finance Minister based his optimism on several factors including better-than-expected second quarter GDP growth of 4.8%, improvement in current account deficit position and recovery of exports.

 

The growth rate in the current fiscal, Chidambaram said, is likely to be 5%.

 

He further said: "The second quarter GDP growth rate indicates that the economy may be recovering and on a growth trajectory again...Performance of Q2 is broadly on the expected line."

 

With the recent improvement in some important sectors like manufacturing, better performance of exports and with the measures taken by the government the economy can be expected to show further improvement, he said.

 

Chidambaram also expressed the confidence that the government will be able to achieve the disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore and contain the fiscal deficit within 4.8% of the GDP.

 

"We are still on target. We are on course for disinvestment. We are still on track to achieve Rs 40,000 crore target," he said.