Pranab remains confident of continued growth

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has reiterated that India is poised achieve double-digit GDP growth in the near future, but persisting domestic inflation and uncertainty in the global economic environment remain a worry.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of industrial body PHD Chamber in New Delhi on Friday, he also repeated his view that high inflows of foreign capital are not a worry at present, as the economy can absorb this flood of foreign institutional investments (FII).

An observer suggested that the finance minister is beginning to sound like a cracked record. ''How many times has he repeated the same bromides in the recent past? And when will he talk about basic bottlenecks to growth, like lousy infrastructure and rampant corruption?'' she wondered.

Mukherjee further said that the Reserve Bank of India and the government are working together to control inflation without hurting economic growth.

"The balancing act that has been worked out in tandem by the finance ministry and the RBI are appropriate, and I do hope fiscal and monetary policy working in tandem will help the economy recover and achieve a higher growth trajectory," Mukherjee said.

He said the RBI's recent steps to improve liquidity will help ease credit supply for investments. "The RBI has given a signal that they are fully aware of the inflationary pressures and at the same time they are also mindful of the requirements of the economy for higher growth," he said.