Growth will improve to 6% in 2013-14: Chidambaram

The challenges facing the economy notwithstanding, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the growth rate in the current fiscal will move up to 6% from 5% recorded in 2012-13.

'Our best minds are working and trying to address the challenges. I am sure in the current year our growth will be 6% against the last year's 5%,' he said at a function of daily Divya Bhaskar.

The growth rate, he further said, would improve to 7% in next fiscal and 8% thereafter.

Observing that no country with the exception of China was expected to grow at more than 7% in the current year, Chidambaram said, 'amongst the large economies, India is still the second fastest growing economy in the world'.

The minister said that while the economies of Ireland, Spain, Iceland and Greece collapsed, India managed a growth rate of over 5%.

Chidambaram said: 'We are facing the challenges and shall rebuild our economy like we did it in 2008... I assure that we can do it again...We can build our economy again.'

The current challenges to the economy include high current account and fiscal deficits, foreign exchange volatility, subdued investment sentiments and declining growth.

Referring to fiscal deficit, he said, efforts will be made to contain it to 4.8% of the GDP in 2013-14.

'I promise that I will contain the fiscal deficit at 5.3% or below as suggested by the Kelkar committee,' he added.