Finance Minister P Chidambaram to meet investors in Canada, US

NEW DELHI: Finance minister P Chidambaram will meet investors in Canada and the United States next week to sell the India growth story and later attend a three-day IMF and World Bank spring meeting from April 19 in Washington.

Chidambaram has been visiting countries like Japan, Germany, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore to promote India as an investment destination.

The FM, during his road shows from April 15, will meet investors in Toronto, Ottawa, Boston and New York and is likely to explain to them the recent steps taken by the government to reduce fiscal deficit and spur economic growth. He will also try to allay foreign investors' concerns over certain tax issues.

Finance ministry officials and RBI deputy governor Urjit Patel will be accompanying Chidambaram on his US and Canada trip.

Earlier this month, during his Tokyo visit, Chidambaram had said that the Indian economy is capable of absorbing $50 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) annually, and had assured investors that the government is committed to reforms. "We have to contain fiscal deficit. We have to tame inflation. We have to find ways in which projects are executed on time and efficiently. We are addressing these problems. These, in my views, are the biggest challenges facing India today," he had said.

The FM had said that the Indian economy was growing between 5 and 5.5 per cent in the just-ended financial year which he wasn't happy with. "I am not happy. We are growing at only 5 to 5.5 per cent... our people require at least an 8 per cent growth," he had said, adding India's potential growth is 7 per cent a year.

The budget 2014-14 has assumed a growth rate of 6.5 per cent in the current year. But there are concerns such as current account deficit (CAD), which jumped to a record high of 6.7 per cent of GDP in the October-December quarter.