PM reviews economy with Plan panel

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today met the members of the Planning Commission to take stock of the economy and directed them to complete the mid-term appraisal (MTA) of the 11th Plan (2007-12) by March.

The Prime Minister, who is also the Chairman of the Planning Commission, suggested that performance of the current fiscal should be incorporated into the MTA, said member Abhijit Sen after the meeting here today.

Earlier, the Commission was slated to complete the mid-term review of the 11th Plan by January-end.

The Prime Minister, Sen said, also reviewed the performance of various sectors which were hit hard by the global financial crisis.

The meeting called by Singh was attended by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and members including Abhijit Sen and Saumitra Chaudhuri. Sudha Pillai, member-secretary, was also present.

The Commission, as a regular practice, reviews the performance of the Five Year Plan after three years and suggest corrective measures for achieving the objectives. The MTA document also used as input for the next Plan.

Although the Commission had set an ambitious growth target of nine per cent for the 11th Plan, the projections were derailed with the global crisis hitting the global economy. Having expanded at 9 per cent during previous three years, the GDP growth rate slipped to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09.