Economic slowdown will not last long: PM

The slowdown in Indian economy will not last long as government is working hard to remedy the situation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today as he saw positive impact of the move to open up several sectors to foreign direct investment in the coming months.
"I believe that this phase of slow growth in India will not last long... The average rate of economic growth that we have attained in the last nine years (7.9 per cent) shows what we are capable of," Singh said in his address to the Nation from the ramparts of Red Fort on the occasion of 67th Independence Day.

The government expects the economic growth to recover to 6 per cent in the current fiscal, from the decade low level of 5 per cent recorded in 2012-13.
"... Economic growth has slowed down at present and we are working hard to remedy the situation," Singh said.
Singh said the government has eased investment caps in several sectors and simplified procedures to boost flow of foreign direct investment (FDI).
Last month, the limit on foreign holdings in telecom was raised from 74 per cent to 100 per cent while restrictions in a dozen other sectors from insurance to tea plantations were eased or abolished. Besides, it has also liberalised the ECB norms for corporates.

"In the coming months, we will see visible results of these efforts to increase investment. Our growth will accelerate, new employment opportunities will be generated and there will be improvements in the infrastructure sector," he said.
Prime Minister hoped the landmark food security bill, which guarantees foodgrains at highly subsidised rates to 81 crore people, will be passed by Parliament shortly.
Faced with widening Current Account Deficit (CAD), the government is looking at ways to attract foreign funds in the form of FDI, External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII).